Enhanced
by andrewjameswilliams
Summary: TV univserse. After participating in a rescue at a US research base John begins to experience strange and amazing side effects. Chapter thirty four added.
1. Chapter One: Distress Call

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Enhanced

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Chapter One: Distress Call

John Tracy sighed in contentment and adjusted his sunglasses before leaning back on the sun lounger and soaking in the bright warm tropical sunshine that shone down on Tracy Island. He had only been back on the island for two days after a longer than normal stint of duty on Thunderbird Five – two months instead of his normal one.

The reason being that just after shift change over two months ago Alan had gone out on a rescue and got caught in a small collapse which had left him with a concussion, a broken arm and a broken leg. It had taken two months for all of Alan's wounds to fully heal and Alan to be well enough to return to active duty as a member of International Rescue and take his shift on Thunderbird Five. John hadn't minded the additional month on the station it had given him more time to observe a comet passing through the inner system.

Still he was glad to be back home for a month. Between rescues it gave him a chance to really catch up with his brothers and to get his tan back. A smile graced his face as he heard the familiar sounds of Gordon and Tin-Tin playing around in the swimming pool.

Feeling the heat of the sun warming his body and having only recently eaten lunch John felt his eyes grow heavy and he slowly drifted off to sleep.

* * *

Jeff Tracy smiled as he looked out on the swimming pool area and saw John dozing in the warm afternoon sun while Gordon and Tin-Tin played around in the swimming pool. He didn't see Virgil or Scott but he suspected that they were probably down in the games room playing pool. They usually did at this time of day.

"Mr Tracy would you like some coffee," Kyrano asked softly from behind him. Jeff looked back at the elderly Malaysian man who had served his family well for so many years.

"Yes I would like some coffee Kyrano thank you." Kyrano bowed slightly.

"I will make it for you now Mr Tracy," Kyrano replied before quietly leaving the room. Jeff sighed and looked back out the window. Much as he would like to go out there and join John in an afternoon doze he couldn't he had work to do. Moving back over to his desk he sat down and was about to pick up the first report that he had to read when a beeping noise filled the air.

Jeff looked up to see the eyes on Alan's portrait flashing. Reaching over to a control panel in the side of his desk he accepted the call from Thunderbird Five.

"Go ahead Alan," he said as the portrait of Alan disappeared to be replaced by a live feed of Alan backdropped by Thunderbird Five's control room.

"Father I've just received a distress call from a US government research facility in Nevada," Alan reported. "There has been an explosion and many people are trapped on the lower underground levels. A feeder stream for the Colorado River runs next to it underground. They don't know if the wall between the facility and the river has been breached but they suspect that it may have been damaged."

"Sounds like a job for the Mole. Alright Alan signal them that we are on our way. Try to get more information on what its like down their. And fill Scott in in-flight."

"F.A.B father," Alan replied before disappearing from the screen and his portrait reappearing. Reaching out Jeff pressed the control that would sound an alarm throughout the villa that would bring the boys running.

* * *

John was jolted out of his light doze when the alarm went off. Getting to his feet he hurried across the patio to the steps leading up to the house while behind him Gordon climbed out of the pool and quickly began drying himself off.

John reached the patio of the house and went inside just as Scott and Virgil came running down the hall into the main room.

"What is it dad," Scott asked.

"A US research base in Nevada has sent out a distress call. There has been an explosion and multiple people are trapped underground on the lower levels. To make matters worse a feeder river for the Colorado runs right next to the underground part of the base. They do not know yet if the containment wall has been damaged. Scott away you go. Alan's trying to get more information and will fill you in while in flight."

"F.A.B father," Scott replied and moved over to the wall lights that concealed the entrance to Thunderbird One's silo. Grasping the wall lights with both hands he held on tight as the wall swivelled and he was facing his beloved Thunderbird One.

"Virgil take Pod 2 you'll definitely need the Mole and possibly some heavy cutting equipment. Take John with you this could get real complicated," Jeff instructed.

"F.A.B father," Virgil and John replied.

While Virgil went over to the rocket portrait on one wall that would flip up and deposit him in the access sled to Thunderbird Two John headed for the passenger lift elsewhere in the house.

Jeff sat back in his seat as the boys left. This was the bit that he always hated. The waiting.


	2. Chapter Two: Arrival

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Chapter Two: Arrival

Thunderbird One

"That's right Scott," Alan's voice said from the speaker in the headset that Scott was wearing. "The facility you're going to is used by the US government in the development and testing of new technology. But they won't give anymore information than that."

"I understand Alan," Scott replied inwardly cursing the paranoid secretive nature of the United States government in these matters.

They knew full well that International Rescue was discrete in these matters and could be trusted to keep things secret yet they still insisted on not giving any information on what was being researched in that facility. So essentially they were going into the danger zone without any real ideas of the potential hazards. Which made their job that bit more difficult.

"Do they have any idea what caused the explosion," Scott asked.

"The base is powered by a fusion generator. They think that one of the deuterium storage tanks exploded," Alan answered. "The topmost underground floors have partially collapsed and that which hasn't collapsed is on fire."

"Any more news on the river containment wall?"

"I'm afraid not. They've lost contact with the researchers trapped on the lower levels." _Terrific,_ Scott thought.

"Okay thanks Alan. Keep monitoring if you hear anymore before I arrive give me a buzz straight away."

"F.A.B."

**

* * *

Ten Minutes Later**

Scott landed Thunderbird One on part of a large stretch of open ground inside the perimeter fence. He could see on his external cameras that a group of soldiers were running up and surrounding Thunderbird One pointing their weapons right at him. Scott rolled his eyes in irritation. There was no need for such a martial display. And really did the soldiers think their rifles would be able to hurt Thunderbird One. From the look they were projectile not laser weapons they'd just bounce off the hull.

He could see another group of people two males in combat fatigues and one woman wearing civilian clothes with a white lab coat over the top. Scott couldn't make out the rank insignia on the military uniforms from here Thunderbirds One's external cameras and sensors were not quiet sensitive enough for that but he guess that they were probably the people in command of this base. And probably therefor the people who had ordered the soldiers to surround Thunderbird One.

Scott switched on the external speakers.

"This is International Rescue Thunderbird One," he said. "Can you please call your soldiers off." He turned on the external microphone and waited.

One of the approaching three raised a loud speaker.

"International Rescue I am Colonel Marshall Graves commander of security for this base. We appreciate your rapid response but I am afraid the troops must remain."

"Colonel Graves we do not appreciate having weapons pointed at us when we are here to help," Scott replied keeping his voice cool and calm while inwardly he was getting a little ticked off with this Colonel Graves already. He seemed to be one of those jar-headed paranoid commanders. He'd met his kind before when he was in the US airforce before International Rescue began operating.

"I am sorry International Rescue but the troops must remain. It is necessary for national security reasons." _Oh for goodness sakes,_ Scott thought rolling his eyes.

"Colonel Graves you have people trapped underground. They are our only concern not stealing your secrets. Now I ask you again please stand down your men."

"I am sorry but the troops remain," Graves said stubbornly. "They will accompany you in your activities."

"Colonel let me make this black and white," Scott replied letting some of his annoyance show in his voice now. "We cannot help save the people trapped underground if we have your men breathing down our necks. Nor can we allow any of your men access to one of our vehicles. Now either you stand down your men and let us work unhindered or I'll leave here now and instruct Thunderbird Two not to approach. The choice is yours colonel. Make it fast."

Graves did not respond but Scott saw the woman speak to Graves though he couldn't make out what she said. Graves said something back and was answered and for a few moments he and the woman argued. And Scott got the distinct impression that the woman was the one who was really in charge here.

Finally Graves spoke again through the loud speaker.

"Very well International Rescue," Graves said but he did not sound happy. "I will withdraw the troops."

"Thank you," he said. "Now to business. Thunderbird Two will be here soon we will need complete information on the layout of the underground levels." Graves didn't answer but Scott saw the woman take the loud speaker from him.

"International Rescue my name is Dr Kerry Jones I am in charge of this facility the information you've requested will be provided," the woman said.

"Thank you Dr Jones," Scott replied. "I will see you face to face shortly."

"I look forward to it."

Scott turned off the external microphones and speakers before turning on the main communications system. He needed to report in to dad that he'd arrived and advise him of the trouble he'd had with Colonel Graves. Scott didn't think the colonel was going to let what had happened lie. He suspected that Graves would probably complain to Washington not that it would do any good.

"Base from Thunderbird One, base from Thunderbird One," he said.

"Go ahead Scott," his fathers voice responded even as he appeared on one of Scott's display screens.

"I've arrived at the danger zone and am about to set up. Had a little trouble with the military though."

"What kind of trouble," Jeff Tracy asked fearing the worst. Last time they'd had trouble with the US military it had been when the trigger-happy captain of the U.S.N _Sentinel_ fired missiles at Thunderbird Two. It was only luck that had prevented Thunderbird Two from being destroyed in that incident as it was she'd been crippled for weeks.

"Nothing too serious," Scott reported. "The colonel in charge of security in the place apparently decided we're a threat to national security and need to be watched and accompanied at all times by his men."

"I assume you persuaded him otherwise."

"I did. The head of the facility a Dr Jones overruled him. But I don't think he's very happy about it."

"I'll alert our operatives in Washington," Jeff said. "We'll deal with it if it becomes necessary."

"Ok father. I'll call you again when I'm all set up." Scott broke the signal before undoing his seat restraints and getting up. His first stop would be the storage bay behind the cockpit from where he would pick up his mobile control equipment.

**

* * *

A Few Minutes Later**

Scott set mobile control up inside an emergency command and control tent that the military forces protecting the base had put up after the explosion and subsequent evacuation of as much of the base as possible. He ignored the daggered looks he got off some of the soldiers who hadn't taken kindly to the way he'd in their eyes humiliated their commanding officer. The fact that Colonel Graves had been an idiot to even surround Thunderbird One and try the 'you're a risk to national security' trick was neither here nor there.

Scott personally suspected that the real reason Graves had done that was because he wanted his people to get a really good look at International Rescue technology up close. Like every other military in the world the US military would love to get their hands on even a small number of International Rescue's secrets.

Still despite the irritation and anger that some of Graves' people were showing him they had complied with Dr Jones' orders and provided him with a detailed layout of the underground levels.

The research base was built in a reverse pyramid shape with the widest point just below the surface with the narrow point of the pyramid deep underground. A core access shaft ran the length of the twelve underground levels and it was that access shaft that had become blocked by fire and falling debris. The researchers were trapped in one of the labs on level nine, a lab that was right against the wall on the side where the river ran past the base. They would have to use the Mole to tunnel down to the opposite side of the base and access the level from there. Once down there they would possibly have to cut through emergency doors. Neither Dr Jones nor the quietly seething Colonel Graves had been able to say if the heavy steel doors designed to contain fires and explosions had closed automatically or not. And all lines to underground sensors had been severed either by the initial explosion or by the following fire.

"Mobile Control to Thunderbird Two," he said into his radio unit. "What is your ETA?"

"Mobile Control from Thunderbird Two," Virgil's voice responded immediately. "I've just crossed into Nevada now and will be at your location in three minutes."

"Understood. Listen Virgil you're going to have to land on the western side of the base. We'll have to use the Mole to dig down to the ninth level from there. Now we don't know if the emergency doors on the ninth level have closed or not. So you and John are going to have to take the oxyhydnite equipment with you. The researchers are reported to be in a lab on the eastern side right next to the wall that faces the river."

"F.A.B Scott." Scott did detect a slight note of nerves in Virgil's voice as he spoke about the oxyhydnite equipment. Though they had had no problems with it since the Thompson Tower disaster last year both himself and Virgil were still a little weary of using it since it knocked them out during its initial tests. "Do we know how may researchers are trapped."

Scott looked up at the sullen looking corporal standing next to him who had been designated liaison.

"Five," the corporal answered.

"Did you get that Virgil?" Scott asked into the communications unit.

"I got it. ETA now two minutes."

"F.A.B."


	3. Chapter Three: Things Get More Complicat...

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Chapter Three: Things Get More Complicated

Two Minutes Later

Soldiers and researchers alike turned their heads up as Thunderbird Two came in to land beside Thunderbird One. Despite being absolutely massive far bigger than any aircraft operated by the US airforce or any airforce in the world Thunderbird Two moved with an easy grace as it set down the awesome force of its VTOL jets creating a wind that blew dust everywhere. Researchers and soldiers stared in equal amounts of awe and humility as the great machine set down realising that what they were seeing was the power of a technology more advanced than anything currently in existence anywhere else in the world.

For a few moments Thunderbird Two sat silent on the ground and then a warning buzzer sounded and Thunderbird Two began to rise on powerful hydraulic legs. The whole of the green leviathan aside from the central interchangeable pod section rising up to expose the door of the pod. In moments the pod was fully exposed and the great door/ramp lowered to the ground.

Then from inside Thunderbird Two's pod came the rumble of an extremely powerful engine. Watching soldiers and research staff watched in amazement as a massive drilling machine on a powerful mobile track emerged from the pod. The name Mole was proudly written on the side.

The great drilling machine moved forward with a speed that belied its huge size much to the amazement of the watching troops and staff. Then it came to a stop and the powerful pivot on the transport sled raised the great machine rear end towards the sky while the cutting head dropped towards the ground. With a whirr the cutting head started up and quickly reached full speed. Jets on the back engaged and the machine's moved forward and immediately ate into the ground and disappeared beneath the surface kicking up a plume of dust as it disappeared underground.

**

* * *

The Mole**

John Tracy smiled enjoying himself as he handled the controls to the Mole. It was rare that he really got to operate any of International Rescue's vehicles beyond Thunderbird Three. Though like all his brothers he was fully qualified to pilot all of their vehicles. He was just didn't often get the chance. For some reasons things tended to be quiet on the rescue front whenever he was down on Earth. So he was enjoying being able to pilot the Mole while Virgil got the oxyhydnite equipment ready. The need to use electrically heated gas cylinders to evaporate any escaping fumes meant that the equipment was quiet bulky and required specialised harnesses to use it. They didn't know enough about the underground corridors to use their hoversleds so they would have to carry the oxyhydnite equipment on their backs.

In a few short moments the ride was over as the Mole tunnelled right into the side of the underground base.

"We're through," John called back to Virgil even as he powered down the Moles drive and drilling head.

"Oxyhydnite equipment is ready," Virgil answered grunting slightly as he put on one of the harnesses and felt the weight of the gas cylinder full force until he did the harness up properly.

"F.A.B," John answered even as he climbed out of the Moles pilot seat and went to put own his own oxyhydnite harness.

Like Virgil before him he grunted from the weight of the gas cylinder as he put the harness on.

"Damn we must have a word with Brains see if he can make these things lighter," he said to Virgil while Virgil retrieved the masks that would allow them to breath clearly – since the air in the underground levels was probably contaminated by dust and smoke and which would protect them from any fumes they might encounter. Virgil retrieved gloves for that same purpose.

"I wish it would make them a lot easier to carry," Virgil agreed as he handed a mask and gloves to John before putting his on. "Maybe we should talk to him about it when we get back to base. Brains is always open to suggestions for improvements."

"Yeah that might be an idea," John agreed as he pulled his gloves on before putting on the breathing mask.

Before moving over to the hatch in the Moles side John and Virgil thoroughly and efficiently checked each other's equipment to make sure everything was correct. Naturally it was. Their equipment was always kept in perfect working order. There would be absolute hell to pay if it weren't. Still they always checked before moving, as one could never, ever be too careful.

"Mobile Control this is the Mole," Virgil said into his mask's microphone.

"Go ahead Virgil," Scott responded at once.

"Scott were about to leave the Mole is there any new information?"

"I'm afraid not Virgil. You'll just have to manage."

"Understood. How many emergency doors are we looking at."

"It they've all closed between you and your destination then they will be twelve of them. One every ten metres."

"Thanks Scott," John put in.

"Good luck."

"Thanks." Scott signed off.

"Well here we go," John said nervously wondering what they would find when they left the Mole. The fact that the military and scientists who ran this base refused point blank to tell them what they were researching here made him very, very uneasy. What was it that they were so desperate to hide? And he could tell the Virgil felt the same.

"Yes," Virgil agreed as he started to operate the hatch controls. "Lets just hope we don't run into anything nasty."

* * *

The interior of the research base was dark and gloomy. The air was thick with smoke and dust and the strength of things burning that were not meant to burn. Like metal, plastic and flesh. Pale emergency lights barely penetrated the gloom but what they revealed were plain and narrow concrete corridors.

"Imagine trying to work in a place like this," John said to Virgil as they advanced cautiously mindful of the debris that littered the corridors.

"Don't care to," Virgil replied. "There's one of those emergency doors."

Sure enough ahead of them was a thick metal door but it hadn't closed fully instead it was stuck half way between open and closed. A quick look showed that the force of the initial explosion had warped the tracks it ran on. The gap on one side was narrow but they were able to squeeze through.

They advanced cautiously deeper into the base moving carefully over the debris that littered the floor. As he walked cautiously sweeping a flashlight from side to side in a searching motion John found he liked this base less and less. It was all dark and gloomy there was no cheer here. How could anyone live and work in this place. Even when he'd been with NASA before the foundation of International Rescue the space stations he'd been on had been brighter and warmer than this though the corridors had been just as narrow. John did not understand how anyone could work in this place.

Most of the emergency doors they came to were open or like the other one jammed half shut all warped or not off line by the explosion. But as they approached the core of the base they came across a door that had actually closed and was blocking the corridor. Virgil tried to operate the door release mechanism but the door remained stubbornly closed its motors dead.

"Looks like we'll have to burn through after all," John said to Virgil taking the torch for the oxyhydnite from its clip on the harness.

"Looks like it," Virgil agreed taking out his own oxyhydnite torch.

Almost in unison they lit the torches and got to work on the thick metal door. It didn't take long to cut through. The powerful oxyhydnite cut through the metal as though it was paper eating through the tough metal far faster than a laser could. In moments the door was no longer and obstacle a single kick from Virgil sent it crashing to the floor.

After turning off the oxyhydnite torches they resumed their trek through the base. They encountered no other closed emergency doors between them and the central core. As they passed the lifts and stairwell doors that lined the core shaft John paused. He could hear something, some that sounded like bubbling water and it was coming from the stairwell.

"Virgil can you hear that," he said.

"Yeah," Virgil replied. "The river must be getting in somewhere below us. Think we should take a look?"

"I don't think we have much choice. Though we should advise Scott first."

"Yes."

"John to Mobile Control," John said into his comm unit.

"Yes John," Scott responded immediately.

"Scott we may have a new problem. We can hear water coming from below us in the direction of the stairwell I think the river containment wall has been breached and its coming in. I'm going to take a quick look to see how fast its rising."

"F.A.B be careful John," Scott replied.

Moving quickly but cautiously John headed over to the stairwell and slowly opened the heavy fire door half expecting river water to come blasting through. None came. Still being cautious he moved into the stairwell and looked down. Muddy water was coming from the level below and rapidly cascading down the stairs to the lower three levels. From the look of it level twelve the bottom most level and the tip of the underground pyramid was already under water. _Ugh oh,_ John thought seeing how quickly the water was rising. They wouldn't have long.

"Scott, Virgil," he said into his comm unit. "The water is rising pretty fast looks like level twelve is already flooded. I don't think we have long."

"Damn," Virgil answered.

"Agreed," Scott added. "You two have to move more quickly."

"F.A.B Scott."

John moved back out of the stairwell, closing the door behind him though the door would only hold off the rising river water for a short time once it reached this level. But even if it held off the river for only a few minutes it would be a few more minutes to save the trapped researchers. A few more minutes which could be critical.

"Come on," Virgil said as John rejoined him. "We have to hurry."

"Don't I know it," John agreed as they got moving again both of them knowing that things had just gotten more complicated.


	4. Chapter Four: The Accident

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Chapter Four: The Accident

It didn't take John and Virgil that long to reach the research lab where the scientists were trapped. Most of the emergency doors were stuck open or jammed half open the only one that was sealed tight was the one just before the lab section. As before the oxyhydnite torches made short work of the tough metal.

And then there was only the door to the lab. It was a large rectangular metal door in two parts that made an airtight seal in the centre. It looked more like the door to a lift than the door to a lab. A sign on the door read something but it was impossible to see what it was in the dim light. John shone his torch on it. It was a warning not to carry anything that could give off an electrostatic charge into the lab. Fortunately neither his nor Virgil's uniforms or their equipment would do that. The fabric and alloys they were made from were designed not to conduct static electricity or to even allow a charge to build up. It was one of the many things Brains had taken into account when he'd come up with the materials.

As with the first emergency door Virgil attempted to operate the controls for the door only to find that they weren't working. The doors would not budge.

"The door controls don't work. Why am I not surprised," Virgil said. "We'll have to burn our way through."

It took a few moments longer than John and Virgil would have thought for the oxyhydnite cutters to slice through the metal of the door. Whatever composite alloy it was made from was much stronger than normal metal with a higher tolerance to focused heat so it took the oxyhydnite a few seconds longer to burn through the thick sheet metal of the doors. But they soon managed to cut their way through and as soon as the door panels were down they were greeted not with the sight of a lab but a short corridor before there was another set of doors.

Tall slim pylons of somekind lined both sides of the short corridor. There were slim panels on them that faced inwards; panels that probably normally glowed but which were currently dark and dead. Looking at them John realised that he had seen something like them before.

"Whoa, what are these things?" Virgil asked.

"They're bio-scanner units," John answered. "Designed to scan right down to the submolecular level. I saw one once when I was with NASA. It was used for scanning plants down to the submolecular level to see how they coped with being in the artificial atmosphere of a space station for a long period of time. But I've never seen ones like these before. These look like there meant to scan people."

"What are they doing here," Virgil wondered. "What are they researching here that they would need scanners that accurate."

"I don't know," John admitted. "It doesn't concern us now anyway. We need to get to those scientists."

"Yes your right," Virgil agree but gave the bio-scanners another nervous look. "Still I would like to know what they need such sensitive scanners for."

"You and me both Virgil," John answered as they started walking past the dead bio-scanners. "You and me both."

They reached the second set of double doors and found to their complete lack of surprise that they would not open. Again they were forced to use the oxyhydnite to cut through. And again found that whatever material the door was made from took longer to cut through than they would have thought.

As soon as they were through and had kicked the door panels down they found themselves entering what was obviously a preparation area for a clean room. Sleek silver one-piece suits with matching gloves, boots and full helmets with breathing apparatus were on racks and shelves lining two of the walls. The wall directly ahead was made of a transparent material and had a door set in it.

A large hole had been smashed in the material possibly by repeated impacts from a chair or other blunt object. Obviously whoever was in the lab had tried to get out on their own.

A figure appeared from somewhere beyond the barrier dressed in one of the silver suits complete with helmet and breathing apparatus. Decked out in all that gear the researcher looked more like someone preparing to go EVA on a space station than someone doing research at an earthbound installation.

"Who….who are you," the figure asked in a male voice that was slightly muffled by the helmet.

"We're International Rescue," Virgil answered quite used to this reaction when they abruptly showed up to save someone. "We've come to get you out of here."

"Oh thank heavens," the researcher replied. "We thought that Colonel Graves and Dr Jones had forgotten about us. Come quickly some of us are hurt." With that the researcher disappeared from sight back into the lab.

Moving quickly but still with caution John and Virgil moved through the preparation area and entered the lab proper.

The lab was quiet a spacious room but nothing like what they had seen before. There were no racks of chemicals or things like that, though some test tubes were present. Instead the room was filled with machines and computers of various kinds. And there were tanks all linked to complex looking equipment, tanks that were filled with some thick fluid. Some sealed test tubes on the few worktables held the same thick fluid.

And there was signs of damage to the lab caused by the blast on the levels above. A bank of computer consoles had fallen over and were still sparking fitfully on the floor. The overhead gantry that carried piping and the air duct had been shattered in one part, which would have produced a potentially lethal shower of flying metal fragments. A number of light fixtures had broken away from their securing bolts and now hung only by cables and flickering fitfully. But the most worrying sign of damage was a bulging line in the concrete wall, a line that started at just above floor level and seemingly travelling slowly along the wall. Though the river had broken in on the level below it had to still be exerting immense pressure on the wall to be causing the bulge. Sooner or later part of the bulge would break and the river would come rushing into this level as well.

The researchers were clustered together by one of the worktables, three were on their feet and didn't appeared to have sustained any injuries. The other two were sat down their backs against the side of the table. One appeared to be nursing a broken arm going on the way he or she was cradling it and the odd twist there was halfway along the forearm. The other was more badly wounded with a very deep and nasty looking gash on the right shoulder, the piece of metal that had caused the injury was still jutting out the shoulder. The researchers hadn't tried to remove it, which was a good thing as the jagged piece of torn metal in the wound was probably the only thing that had prevented the researcher from bleeding to death.

Moving quickly John and Virgil hurried over to the researchers even as one of the researchers – the one who'd met them told his fellows who they were. As soon as they heard the words International Rescue all the researchers looked relieved. It was easy to see though the faceplates of the helmets that they were wearing.

"Thank god you came," one of the wounded researchers – the one with the broken arm – said in a female voice. "We were starting to lose hope."

"Well were here now," Virgil answered. "Can you two stand?"

Both wounded researchers nodded indicating that they could stand. John and Virgil exchanged a relieved look that would make getting them out of here that much easier and quicker and with the base steadily flooding from below they needed all the time they could get.

"Good we need to leave here quickly," John said. "This base is steadily flooding from below and that wall won't hold together for long."

Before anyone could react to John's announcement there came a deep rumble from below followed instantly by a powerful explosion that made the emergency lights flicker. The floor beneath them shook violently knocking everyone off their feet. The researcher with the wounded shoulder cried out in pain as the shockwave from the blast on the level below jarred the wounded shoulder.

Hidden in the roar of the explosion was a sharp crack. Unnoticed the bulge in the wall had cracked open behind a bank of computer panels. A thin spray of water projected right into the back of the cabinet and got in through the hot air vents in the back. The water played over delicate internal circuitry, with predictable results. Short circuits and burnout's tore through the equipment and a moment later the whole bank of consoles exploded.

Torn metal fragments and pieces of singed and fused circuitry flew across the lab in a potentially lethal hail of shrapnel. The flying debris sliced into just about everything it touched. One piece sliced into a rack on one of the worktables, test tubes that were sealed and filled with the thick fluid that was in the tanks. The test tubes shattered like small fragmentation grenades producing a spray of liquid and glass.

Unnoticed a single small drop of the liquid landed on the single bare patch of skin on the back of John's neck, just below the line of his hair and just above the collar of his uniform. For a moment the liquid sat on the surface of the skin and then it disappeared, absorbed through the pores of the skin.

Completely oblivious to anything having occurred John cautiously sat up once the rain of fragments had stopped.

"Everyone all right," he asked.

"I'm fine," Virgil answered. There were also nods of affirmation from all but one of the researchers. The researcher who didn't respond to John's question was starring at the wall with a look of horror and fear on his face.

John followed his gaze and swore quietly when he saw a thin jet of water coming in through a small crack in the bulge in the wall. Even as he watched the crack got slightly wider and the spray visibly stronger. In a few minutes at best the whole bulge would burst allowing the river to come crashing in.

"We need to leave here now," John said calmly ignoring the instinct that told him to run.

"No kidding," Virgil agreed.

As quickly as they could everyone got to their feet with the two wounded researchers naturally taking the most time to get their feet under them. By the time everyone was back on their feet a thin film of water had spread across the floor of the lab and a number of the machines had begun sparking and smoking dangerously. They would explode any minute.

"Come on lets get out of here and back to the Mole," Virgil said.

"Not quite yet," the most senior of the researchers said and went over to a worktable and picked up a rack undamaged full and sealed test tubes. "Now we can go."

Virgil and John exchanged an irritated and confused glance. What was in those damned test tubes that was so important that the researcher would risk all their lives to retrieve them? What exactly was the US government researching here?

"Why thank you," Virgil replied sarcastically. The researcher glared back even as the layer of water covering the floor got deeper.

"What! Do you really think I am going to let years of painstaking work be destroyed?" the senior researcher asked.

"Research no matter how difficult can be redone and replaced. Lives can't be," Virgil replied. "Now come on. We're wasting time."

With that Virgil left the lab. One by one the researchers followed with John bringing up the rear.

"Virgil to Mobile Control," Virgil said into his comm unit as they walked away from the lab.

"Yes Virgil," Scott responded immediately. "What happened? Surface scanners picked up two deep level explosions."

"The first was an explosion on the level below us," Virgil answered. "I suspect the river coming in caused it. The second explosion was in the lab. There is a bulge in the wall where the river is pressing directly against the wall of the base. A part of the bulge cracked open behind a bank of computer panels. The panels short-circuited and exploded. We are on our way back now but the river is slowly coming in to this level as well through the breach in the lab wall. The breach is slowly widening."

"Then you better beat it back to the Mole as quickly as you can," Scott replied. "If that whole bulge in the wall goes the whole level could flood in a few minutes."

"F.A.B Scott," Virgil replied.

* * *

Progress back towards the safety of the Mole was surprisingly fast. With the emergency doors open, half open or burned down by oxyhydnite cutters and the corridors clear of river water aside from immediately around the lab it was surprising easy for even the two wounded researchers to make a brisk pace.

As they reached the central core Virgil suddenly again found himself splashing through a thin but spreading and steadily getting deeper body of water. Shining his torchlight over to the stairwells and lift shafts Virgil inwardly groaned as he saw water forcing its way under the stairwell doors and through the seals between the lift doors. Clearly the levels below them had completely flooded already.

"Looks like we have less time than we thought," John said looking at the river water. In a few minutes the doors to the stairwells would give way and a wall of water would come flooding in.

Moving with even more urgency they resumed their journey to the Mole.

* * *

Moving quickly they reached the Mole with only a few moments before. Virgil and John went aboard first, Virgil moving to the controls to begin powering the Mole back up. John stood by the hatch and helped the researchers aboard. As he helped the last researcher to board the Mole John heard a distant boom.

And abruptly water came surging towards them clearly the doors on the central core had given way, possibly the wall in the lab as well.

"Virgil start the engines," John called to Virgil as he shut the hatch before making sure all the researchers had secured themselves in there seats. Satisfied that they had properly secured themselves John took off his oxyhydnite gear and sat down himself and secured himself as he heard the Moles engines start and felt a vibration begin in the floor as the Mole slowly began to reverse back along the tunnel they had drilled into the ground.

John inwardly sighed in relief, thankful that they gotten out of there. Still he couldn't help but wonder and ask himself a question that had been bothering him ever since they had got here. Just what had the US government been researching in this base.


	5. Chapter Five: Homecoming

****

Chapter Five: Homecoming

The Mole

Virgil put the drive unit of the Mole into full speed reverse and the great drilling and tunnelling machine began moving back along the tunnel they had bored into the ground earlier. He hoped that the Mole was quick enough to get back along the tunnel before the river caught up with them.

Sensors mounted near the front of the Mole showed that the level they had just left was flooding quiet rapidly and would be completely underwater in a few minutes. If the water caught up with the Mole before they reached the surface they would be in real trouble as it would break the grip between the drive belts on the sides of the Mole and the wall of the tunnel. If that happened they would be stranded.

Virgil began to relax when he saw that they were outpacing the floodwaters. They were going to reach the surface before the water, which was only just starting to spill into the tunnel to chase after the fleeing Mole and its human passengers and crew. Still he wouldn't relax completely until they were back on the surface and he was back at the controls of his beloved Thunderbird Two heading for home.

"How are you doing Virgil," John asked from the back passenger compartment where he was with the rescued researchers.

"We're almost to the surface," Virgil answered.

"F.A.B," John answered and although his voice was calm and professional in full International Rescue mode Virgil clearly heard a note of relief in his older brothers voice. Anyone who didn't know John would have missed it but Virgil heard it as clear as a bell. John would be happy when this mission was over. Virgil couldn't blame him as he felt the same way. He hated it when they dealt with the military. Especially the US military as he hadn't forgotten how one of their trigger-happy captains had almost blown him and Thunderbird Two out of the sky. The kind of 'shoot first, ask questions later' behaviour displayed by the _Sentinel's_ captain irritated Virgil to no end.

After a few more moments the Mole broke the surface and immediately began moving back onto its transporter unit even as it rose backend first from the hole it had bored earlier. In moments the Mole was back on the transport unit in exactly the same position it would be in just prior to launch. With a series of resounding thuds docking clamps engaged holding the Mole stationary in launch/retrieval position. And then the powerful hydraulic pistons that moved the part of the transporter that the Mole rested on began to move. In moments the Mole was back horizontal again and stationary.

Virgil pressed a few controls deploying a ramp from the side of the Mole and opening the hatch. Proximity sensors alerted him to medics with stretchers running up outside to take care of the researchers.

"Okay folks journey's end," Virgil called back into the passenger compartment.

At his younger brother's words John released his seat restraints and stood up.

"Okay people you heard him time to get off," he said to the researchers even as he moved over to release the restraints of the two injured researchers. The other three released themselves.

As soon as all the researchers were up on their feet they filed out of the Mole all professing their thanks for being saved from certain death. Hearing there simple but heartfelt thanks made John smile as it made his and his families chosen job worthwhile.

John waited until all the researchers were clear of the access ramp before using a panel of controls besides the hatch to retract the ramp and close the hatch.

"That's it Virgil," John called forward.

"F.A.B John," Virgil answered before turning on the communications unit. "Mole to Mobile Control all passengers disembarked. Returning to Thunderbird Two."

"F.A.B Virgil," Scott responded immediately.

John smiled as he heard the transporters motors start with a powerful rumble that while almost completely muted here inside the Mole was still noticeable. A faint vibration suffused the deck as the Mole began to move. John started moving forward to join Virgil in the control cabin.

He had only taken a few steps when a wave of dizziness rippled through his head and he stumbled forward and grasped the arm of one of the seats to keep from falling over. For several seconds the world spun sickeningly and then as if a switch had been thrown the dizziness vanished.

Cautiously John stood fully upright again. _What was that,_ he thought thinking about the strange dizziness he'd never felt anything like it in his life before. But after a moment he shrugged. Whatever it was it was gone now. Thinking no more of it he forward to rejoin Virgil.

**

* * *

Mobile Control**

As the Mole started its return journey to Thunderbird Two Scott smiled in relief glad that this particular mission was almost over. Now that the scientists had been saved he had better pack up mobile control and return to Thunderbird One.

"I suppose your going now," the corporal who'd been assigned liaison asked. Over the course of the rescue the corporal's attitude had undergone a change becoming positively friendly as opposed to sullen and resentful like it had been earlier.

"Yes," Scott answered as he powered down mobile control and began to disassemble it. "Our task here is done."

The corporal watched in amazement as the complex mobile control station split into two units that individually folded down and compacted until they looked like nothing more than large metal cases. They even had handles so Scott could carry them.

"You must be strong to carry those," the corporal said. Scott just smiled. Like all his brothers he was in top physical shape you had to be in their line of work.

"I am quiet fit," Scott answered as he picked the two units that made up mobile control up one in each hand. "You have to be in my line of work."

"Guess so," the corporal answered. He made way for Scott as the IR field commander started walking carrying the two units back towards Thunderbird One.

**

* * *

Thunderbird Two**

A Few Minutes Later

John sighed to himself as settled down in one of the passenger seats on Thunderbird Two's control room as Virgil settled down at the pilot's station and began prepping the great green transport for departure. He was glad that this mission was over and that they had been able to save the lives of the researchers.

John leaned back in his seat and closed his eyes. He could feel a headache starting to form in his head for some reason.

"John are you alright," Virgil asked looking back at his brother in concern.

"Yeah I'm fine," John replied opening his eyes. "Just a slight headache."

"Are you sure," Virgil queried considering that the military had been researching something here, something that in the paranoia and obsession with national security didn't want to tell them about. He wondered if John had somehow been exposed to something.

"I'm sure Virg," John answered. "The stress of the rescue and the stress of having spent two months on Thunderbird Five is catching up with me that's all. You just concentrate on flying us home."

"Alright if your sure your alright," Virgil said.

"I'm sure." Virgil gave John an unconvinced look then turned back to the controls and hailed Scott on Thunderbird One.

"Thunderbird One from Thunderbird Two. Ready for departure."

"F.A.B Virgil," Scott replied. "See you back at base."

"F.A.B," Virgil answered before signing off with Scott. A press of button turned on Thunderbird Two's VTOL jets. With a roar of power the six VTOL jets came to life and Thunderbird Two lifted off the ground.

Virgil used the VTOL jets until Thunderbird Two was almost a mile in the air before starting Thunderbird Two's main drive and setting a course back to Tracy Island while continuing to climb.

**

* * *

Thunderbird One**

Scott watched on Thunderbird One's external sensors as Thunderbird Two lifted off and rapidly climbed into the sky while moving off in the direction of the Pacific Ocean. He supposed he should get underway himself when out the corner of his eye activity on the scanners caught his attention. He saw on the external camera's Colonel Graves speaking into a walkie-talkie.

Getting the distinct impression that Graves was up to something Scott kept all of Thunderbird One's external sensors on full alert and double checked to make sure the stealth system was working properly. He wouldn't put it past Graves to try to attach a homing beacon to Thunderbird One at the last minute. And he wouldn't put it past most senior generals in the upper command echelons of the US military to order him to do it. After all the US military would have a field day if they found out where International Rescue's base was located.

Powering up Thunderbird Ones engines Scott used his VTOL jets to get his baby up into the air. Almost immediately he heard the automatic camera detector start sounding its warning and the same time sensors alerted him to a small very fast moving projectile streaking towards Thunderbird One. It hit the underside of Thunderbird One and something attached to the hull with a faint clang. _Now I wonder what that is,_ he thought sarcastically as his sensors detected the object emitting a low frequency signal that could be tracked by orbiting GPS satellites.

A grin appeared on Scott's face as an idea occurred to him. While he could deal with the tracking device right here and now by simply running electromagnetic charge along the outer hull of Thunderbird One he decided he would play the military's game for a little while. But first he would deal with that camera. Using the sensors he located the source of the camera alert. A single private in the shadow of one of the tents, pointing a video camera at him. A camera that used magnetic tape. _Honestly how amateurish can you get,_ he thought. After outwitting the various attempts the Hood had made over the last few years to swipe their secrets dealing with Graves' pathetic attempt.

He switched on the external speakers.

"Colonel Graves I know you have ordered your man by the command tent to photograph us," he said into the microphone. "We do not appreciate such action. Sorry about this but our organisation will remain secret even from the US government." As he spoke Scott pressed some controls.

Soldiers, researchers and army medics on the ground were treated to the sight of a diffuse blue cone of energy suddenly shoot out from the underside of Thunderbird One and briefly bath the soldier holding the video camera in its glow. Before it shut off.

"I've magnetically wiped the video tape your recording and camera tape is now useless. So long." With that he switched off the external speakers and engaged the main engines and Thunderbird One shot away towards the pacific.

"Thunderbird One to base," he said into the comm unit.

"Go ahead Scott," Jeff Tracy responded immediately as his face flashed up on one of Scott's screens.

"Father the military have attached a homing beacon to the underside of Thunderbird One."

"Get rid of it," Jeff ordered.

"I've got a better idea dad. They want us so I am going to let them think they've got us."

"What do you mean son," Jeff asked.

"There's a old abandoned military base on an island seven hundred miles north west of home correct."

"Yes," Jeff said cautiously.

"Well I'm going to fly there first, land, then remove the homing device and hide it. By the time the military arrive and find the device and realise they've been tricked I will be long gone."

"I like it son," Jeff replied a grin breaking through his habitually serious expression. Scott smiled back.

"Guess I've been hanging around Gordon to long but I like it to," Scott replied.

"I heard that," Gordon's voice came faintly from the radio clearly he was in the same room as dad. Scott just laughed and broke the connection and changed his course heading for his target island.

**

* * *

A Short Time Later**

Scott stood besides Thunderbird One holding the homing device he had just removed from the underside of 'his' thunderbird. Looking over at the old aircraft hangers only one of which was in reasonably good shape having been sheltered from the elements he decided he would drop this there.

Walking over he moved deep into the shaded interior of the hanger before putting down the homing device. Then he took a card from his pocket and wrote a short message for the military forces that were bound to find this. What he wrote was simple he just wrote 'better luck next time' and signed it International Rescue before putting it down on top of the homing device.

Then laughing his head off Scott headed back to Thunderbird One and climbed aboard before taking off for Tracy Island. He just wished he could see the look on the faces of the US troops when they found his little message.

**

* * *

Thunderbird Two**

That Same Time

Virgil sighed in relief as he Thunderbird Two's landing sequence completed and she was safely back in her hanger. It was always good to get back home and what he wanted to do now was go to his room and have a nice hot bath. It was sort of a tradition he had after a rescue.

Turning in the pilot's chair he looked over at John to see that his brother had fallen asleep in the chair. Smiling Virgil stood up and went over and shook John's shoulder.

"John," he said. John's blue eyes flickered open and John immediately winced in pain. "John what's wrong?" Virgil demanded in concern.

"Headache," John moaned leaning forward and flinching. "And the light hurts." Virgil frowned.

"Sounds like you've got a migraine," he said to his older brother. "You should go straight to bed. I'll get Tin-Tin or grandma to bring you some painkillers."

"I intend to," John said through his throbbing head. Awkwardly he got to his feet and headed into the passenger lift to the surface while Virgil watched worriedly until he disappeared. With a sigh Virgil took off his uniform and got into his normal clothes and folding up the uniform so it could be washed before leaving Thunderbird Two himself.

* * *

John awkwardly stumbled into his bedroom. He could barely see where he was going the light hurt his head so much. As soon as he'd stepped off the passenger lift into the villa dad had taken one look at him and ordered him to bed, while Tin-Tin had gone off to the sickroom to get the headache tablets.

Entering his room he flinched at the bright light streaming in through the open curtains and stumbled over and closing them. Then he stripped off his uniform before awkward climbing into bed and closing his eyes wishing for the welcome release of sleep.

His bedroom door opened and John reluctantly opened his eyes again to see Tin-Tin coming in holding a glass of water in one hand and a pair of tablets in the other.

"Here you go John," she said softly and handed him the tablets and the water. And John awkwardly took the tablets swallowing each with a sip of water before handing the glass back to Tin-Tin.

"Thanks Tin-Tin," he said.

"Your welcome now go to sleep I'll see you in the morning," Tin-Tin answered and left the room.

John buried himself in his bedclothes and closed his eyes again before descending into a deep sleep.


	6. Chapter Six: Sudden Illness

****

Chapter Six: Sudden Illness

Twelve Minutes Later

Scott Tracy quietly opened the door to John's bedroom and cautiously looked into the room. He had arrived back on the island a few minutes ago – the little diversion to play his little trick on the US military had cost him some additional flight time. Shortly after getting to the surface dad had told him that John was suffering from a migraine and had gone to bed.

Normally Scott would have accepted his fathers assessment and left it at that. But something was telling him that there was something more wrong with John than a simple migraine.

Scott has always had a strange sixth sense where his brothers were concerned. He didn't understand it but he always just knew when something was wrong with one of them. And right now that strange sense was screaming at him that something was very wrong with John.

Not wanting to unnecessarily worry his father and two other earth side brothers he hadn't told them about his feeling. Instead he'd come up here to investigate the feeling on his own.

Moving quietly so as not to disturb his sleeping brother Scott and approached the bed. With each step he became more and more convinced that something was very wrong with John.

Reaching the side of the bed Scott gazed down on John's sleeping face knew that his feeling had been right. John's face was unnaturally pale; virtually the only colour being from the tan that John was just starting to regain. His skin was caked in sweat as though he'd been exercising really, really hard. And John was huddled up as if trying to keep warm he was also shivering.

This isn't a migraine, Scott thought mental alarm bells ringing at full volume. Gently he reached out and put his hand on his brother's forehead and immediately felt the unhealthy amount of heat John's body was generating.

Scott stared at John for a few moments in alarm and concern. Where had this sudden fever come from? John had been perfectly fine this morning and out on the rescue. Had anything been wrong with him out on the rescue Scott knew he would have been immediately informed. He couldn't help but wonder if John had inadvertently picked something up out on the rescue, could he have picked up a cold from one of the researchers. Or god forbid could he have been exposed to something on that base. Something very nasty like a biological weapon.

Scott shuddered at the mere thought of it. Research into biological weapons had been illegal for a very long time – since the mid 20th century in point of fact – but didn't stop some people and governments from doing research in that field.

"Get a grip Scott," he said softly to himself. Take a few deep breaths Scott brought himself under control, then removing his hand from John's forehead he turned and left the room. He had to alert dad to what was happening with John.

**

* * *

Living Room**

Jeff Tracy looked up from the magazine he was reading when he heard Scott come into the living room. One look at Scott's face was enough to set mental alarm bells ringing in Jeff's head.

"Scott what is it?" Jeff asked. "What's wrong?"

"It's John," Scott answered. "I just checked in on him. Dad he hasn't got a migraine."

"What do you mean Scott," Jeff asked just as Virgil look up from the chess game he was playing with Tin-Tin to stare at Scott.

"He's running a really high fever dad," Scott answered. "His temperature is way higher than it should be, he's pale as a ghost, while simultaneously sweating and shivering."

As Scott spoke looks of concern appeared on the face's of everyone who was listening. The symptoms Scott was describing definitely did not fit with the migraine, which was what John had seemingly been suffering from when Jeff ordered him to bed. After a moment of concerned silence Jeff snapped into action.

"Tin-Tin," Jeff said.

"Yes Mr Tracy," Tin-Tin replied.

"Go and prepare the sickroom."

"Yes Mr Tracy," Tin-Tin answered standing up and leaving the room.

"Virgil go and find Gordon then bring a stretcher were going to have to move John to the sickroom."

"Yes father," Virgil answered also getting up and silently berating himself for not realising earlier that something more was wrong with John than a sudden viscous headache. He should have insisted that John go straight to the sick room and lie on the diagnostic bed so they could have determined what was actually wrong. Without saying anything he left the room in search of Gordon.

"Scott can you go and get Brains and meet us in the sickroom."

"Sure thing father," Scott answered then he also left the room for Brains lab. Since the lab was usually where the scientific genius could be found he would check their first.

Jeff for his part sighed and also stood up heading for John's room with a worried frown on his face.

* * *

As soon as he entered John's bedroom Jeff knew that Scott was right and that something was seriously wrong with John. John had twirled around so much in the bed in his feverish sleep that the blankets had sort of wrapped around him forming a cocoon with only John's blond hair visible. Jeff rolled his eyes even as his concern grew. John had only ever done that when he was ill, it had used to drive both him and Lucille crazy.

Jeff moved up the side of the bed and carefully peeled back the layers of bedclothes to reveal his son's face. John's face was really, really pale and completely caked in sweat just as Scott had said. Before Jeff's eyes John tossed in his sleep again and made a sound that sounded like a soft whimper. The sound set off even more mental alarm bells in Jeff's head. Not only was John extremely feverish all of a sudden but he seemed to be in some pain as well.

"John," Jeff whispered softly in a deeply worried tone. Seeing his son like this upset him to no end. Jeff worried and got upset whenever his sons were ill just like any parent would but he especially worried about John when he was ill. Of all his sons John was the one who resembled his late beloved wife the most. So it always seemed to hurt more when John was ill or got hurt on a mission.

Jeff felt his son's forehead and the back of his neck and recoiled when he felt the huge amount of heat his son's body was generating. John's fever was dangerously high. They had to get him to the sickroom now so they could try and diagnose what was causing it and start trying to bring it down. Jeff also decided that he would place a call to the mainland and get a doctor out here. Australia was closest he would call and get a doctor out here ASAP.

Gently he unwrapped the cocoon of blankets that John had woven around himself so his son's body was completely clear of the blankets. John wasn't wearing anything save for a dark blue pair of boxer shorts. _He really does look ill,_ Jeff thought worriedly. Looking at John so pale and shivering obviously suffering badly with his sudden fever Jeff couldn't help but feel helpless.

The bedroom door opened and Virgil came through followed by Gordon who was manoeuvring an antigrav stretcher and looking understandably worried. John's sudden illness had them all concerned. Except for Alan who still did not know. Inwardly Jeff sighed. Before he called the doctor he would have to call Thunderbird Five and fill Alan in on what was happening with John. He wasn't looking forward to telling Alan, as he knew how his youngest son would react. He'd been shocked, worried and feel utterly helpless and unable to help stuck as he was aboard the space station.

"He doesn't look good dad," Gordon said looking worriedly at John.

"No he doesn't," Jeff agreed. "Let's get him to the sickroom."

* * *

It was surprisingly easy to get John to the sickroom. Worryingly John did not show any sign of waking up when they moved him from his bed to the stretcher or from the stretcher to the sickroom's diagnostic bed. He was deeply unconscious. A fact that had Jeff very, very worried.

Brains arrived at the sickroom a few minutes after them.

"S…s…sorry Mr Tracy," Brains said apologetically even as he looked instantly deeply concerned at John. "I h…h…had to l…l…lock down an e…experiment."

"It's okay Brains," Jeff answered. "You know what to do?" he nodded to John.

"Y…y…yes Mr Tracy," Brains answered as he moved over to the controls of the diagnostic bed and operating them with practised ease.

The bed beneath John's body lit up, as did a small unit on the ceiling above the bed. A fan of light similar in appearance to the laser fans popular in nightclubs and discos projected from the ceiling and began to slowly sweep along the length of John's body from the top of his head down. Additional sensors built into the diagnostic bed scanned John from below. Assisted by Tin-Tin Brains read the bio readings on John as they came in.

"John's b…b…body temperature is reading out at 106 degree's," Brains read off.

"White blood cell count has shot up," Tin-Tin reported worriedly knowing that it was not a good sign at all. "There is intense stress on every single system in John's body."

"C…c…curious," Brains abruptly said.

"What is Brains? What's happening?" Jeff demanded. Though his voice and face were calm the worry he felt was plain to see in his eyes.

"W…were n…not picking up any s…s…sign of bacterial or viral infection. J…John should not be ill like this."

"Brains look at this," Tin-Tin said pointing out a reading. "The sensors are picking up an unusual compound in John's bloodstream."

"What kind of compound Tin-Tin," Scott asked.

"I don't know Scott," Tin-Tin admitted.

"It a…appears to b…be a b…biopolymer residue of somekind," Brains stammered a thoughtful frown on his face. "I…I'll need a blood sample for analysis."

Tin-Tin moved over to a drawer and took a hypospray out of its sealed clean environment. Inserting a sample tube she moved to John's side and took a small sample of his blood. As the hypospray disengaged it left behind an organic sealant to seal the tiny puncture wound where it had taken the sample.

Tin-Tin withdrew the sample tube and made sure it had sealed properly as it was supposed to before handing it to brains.

"There you go Brains," she said.

"Thanks Tin-Tin," Brains replied just as the diagnostic console gave a series of bleeps. "W…what the?" Brains exclaimed turning his attention back to the console.

"What is it Brains," Jeff asked.

"Johns fever is dropping off," Brains replied. "B…body t…temperature returning to normal. White b…blood cell count a…also dropping returning to normal level."

Everyone turned there attention to John and watched as as if by magic John's skin returned to a normal healthy pallor and he stopped sweating and shivering though he remained asleep.

Brains re-ran the scan of John's body. And then not believing the result he ran the scan again to the same result.

"John's bio-readings are all back in the green," Tin-Tin said shocked. "Body temperature, white blood cell count, everything is back to normal. John is just asleep."

Everyone exchanged shocked and disbelieving glances. But on the scanner readouts was indisputable proof that John was suddenly back to normal and showed no sign at all of having been a mere minute earlier dangerously ill.

"What just happened," Scott wondered aloud.

"I don't Scott," Brains answered in a quiet awed tone of voice. "I just don't know."

**

* * *

Two Hours Later**

John Tracy awoke feeling perfectly fine, as he sat up he was startled to realise that he was not in his bedroom. He was instead lying on one of the beds in the sickroom. John frowned. How had he gotten here? The last thing he remembered was going to bed with a full force migraine raging inside his skull. Now he felt fine. Better than fine actually. Truth be told he felt better now than he'd ever felt in his life.

The door to the sickroom opened and his father came in.

"Hello son how are you feeling?" Jeff asked.

"I'm fine dad," John answered. "What am I doing in the sickroom? Last thing I remember is going to bed with a pounding headache?"

"Don't you remember being feverish," Jeff asked.

"No," John answered frowning at his dad. "What happened to me dad?"

Jeff sat on the edge of the opposite bed and explained what had happened. How when Scott had come home he'd gone to check on him and found him with a dangerously high fever, how they'd moved him to the sickroom and what had happened with the diagnostic scans.

"I was that sick just two hours ago," John asked frowning in disbelief yet somehow knowing his father was speaking the truth.

"You were you gave us quite a scare," Jeff admitted.

"I feel fine now," John replied. "What happened to me dad?"

"We don't John," Jeff answered. "We honestly don't know. Brains is analysing the biopolymer residue we found in your blood maybe that will provide some answers."

"I hope so," John admitted. "Can I get up please?" Jeff looked closely at his second born son.

"Alright," he said at last. "I'll go and get you some clothes. But I want you to take things easy for the rest of the day. Clear."

"Yes father," John answered smiling. Jeff smiled back and left the room to go and get some clean clothes for John.

John for his part leaned back on the bed and tried to make sense of what his father had said. But found he couldn't make any sense of it. After a moment he sighed and waited for his father to return with some clean clothes. All the while he couldn't help but wonder.

What had happened to him?


	7. Chapter Seven: Strange Occurances

****

Chapter Seven: Strange Occurrences

John's Bedroom

Next Morning

John awoke the next morning to the sound of voices in the hallway outside the bedrooms. Blinking rapidly to clear the sleep from his eyes John sat up and tried to figure out what had woken him. He hadn't set his alarm clock last night since he'd wanted to sleep in this morning. The alarm that indicated International Rescue was needed somewhere in the world wasn't going off either so that hadn't woken him.

The only thing that John could of that could possibly have woken him were the voices in the corridor. John frowned in confusion. How could that have woken him? He slept with that kind of background noise on Thunderbird Five all the time. Even when you weren't in the control room of the space station there was a constant background noise wherever you went onboard. A noise that came from the stations systems as well as a constant faint and slowly pulsating hum from the stations power core. Both himself and Alan had become experts as sleeping despite a background noise. So why would background noise wake him up now?

John sighed. Since he was awake now he might as well get up. Throwing the bedclothes off he swung his legs over the side of the bed and stood up. As he did so he tried to make out what was being said out in the corridor even though he knew he really wouldn't be able to. Consequently what happened next shocked him to the core.

For a millisecond John heard and felt a soft crackle in his ears. It was like the noise a microphone sometimes made when it was first switched on. And abruptly the voices in the corridor amplified and John could hear them as though he was standing next to them.

"Sorry dad" Virgil's voice was saying.

"Nothing to be sorry about" Jeff's voice answered. "It was my fault Virgil I should have been watching where I was going. What were you doing with that squash anyway"

"Oh its what I had by my bed last night" Virgil answered.

John smiled clearly seeing in his minds eye what had happened. Virgil regularly took a glass of squash or sometimes coke to bed with him as he had a tendency to wake up thirsty in the middle of the night. Now that it was morning Virgil must have been carrying the glass and what was left of his drink from his room and collided with dad. Dad most likely now had squash down the front of him.

Abruptly John realised that he shouldn't be able to hear what he was hearing and he blinked and as he did so the voices of his father and younger brother faded into the background again. _What was that,_ John thought is shock. _How did I do that? I know I've got sharp hearing but I shouldn't have been able to hear dad and Virgil as if I was standing next to them from in here. So how did I do that? How did I hear them?_

After thinking about it for a few moments John sighed and shrugged. He didn't have any answers though he did wonder if it was linked to whatever that compound Brains had found in his blood was. He sighed again before stripping off the boxer shorts he had slept in and went into the bedrooms on suite bathroom for his regular morning shower.

**

* * *

Dining Room**

A Short Time Later

Scott Tracy looked up when he heard someone coming into the dining room. He smiled brightly when he saw that it was John looking none the worse for ware after yesterday's sudden illness upon his return from the rescue. An illness that Scott was half convinced that John had somehow picked up on that base still he alright now so there was no point in wondering about his sudden illness and seemingly miraculous recovery from it.

"Good morning John" Scott said in greeting.

"Morning Scott" John replied.

"How are you feeling this morning" Scott asked.

"I'm fine" John answered absently as he mentally flash backed to what happened a few minutes ago when he had somehow heard what dad and Virgil were saying when he should not have been able to.

"John" Scott question"John what is it"

"It's nothing Scott just something that happened this morning when I woke up."

"Doesn't look like it was nothing" Scott answered. "What happened"

John sighed wishing he hadn't said anything. Now that he knew that something had happened Scott would keep on at him until he knew what that something was. He thought about it for a few moments and then decided that he did want to tell Scott what had happened this morning. See if his older brother could make some sense of it.

"This morning I heard something Scott. Something I should not have been able to hear" he said at last.

Scott didn't answer. He merely raised an eyebrow and looked at John inviting him to explain. And John did just that. When he was finished Scott sat there with a thoughtful frown on his handsome face.

"That is strange" Scott commented. "You might have ears like a bat John but as good as your hearing is you should not have been able to hear that conversation."

"I know" John replied. "That's why I don't understand what happened."

"Hmm maybe it's somehow related to that compound we found in your blood yesterday" Scott suggested.

"Possibly" John admitted. "But how could a biopolymer residue that we haven't been able to analyse or identify yet effect my hearing"

"Search me" Scott replied.

"What are you two talking about" a familiar voice said.

John and Scott looked over at the door to see their father coming into the room followed by Virgil, Gordon, Brains and Tin-Tin. Grandma currently wasn't on the island having gone to the US to see an old friend of hers who'd recently lost her husband of sixty-one years a few days ago.

"It's nothing dad" John replied not wanting to tell his father about what had happened this morning yet anyway. Jeff frowned he could tell that John was hiding something but he didn't push knowing full well that John would tell him when he was ready.

Before anyone else could speak Kyrano appeared from the passage leading to the kitchen.

"Good morning Mr Tracy" Kyrano said with a slight formal bow. "Shall I begin serving breakfast now Mr Tracy"

"Yes please Kyrano thank you" Jeff replied. Kyrano bowed again and headed back to the kitchen. Tin-Tin followed to assist her father with the dishing up.

**

* * *

A Few Minutes Later**

John watched with hidden amusement as Gordon struggled to open a jar of strawberry jam so he could spread some on his toast.

"These rotten tops" Gordon moaned. "What do they stick these things on with? Super glue"

"Let me have a go Gordon" John said.

"Be my guest" Gordon replied handing the jar of jam across the table to his brother. John accepted the jar and tried to open it to find the top wouldn't move.

"Hmm this is stubborn top" John commented as he twisted the top again. What happened this time took everyone by complete surprise.

As John twisted the lid of the jar there was the loud pop of a breaking seal and abruptly the top came flying off. It flew through the air like a miniature discus and slammed into the milk jug completely shattering it with the force of impact and sending a spray of milk all over the table and all over Gordon who was right next to the milk jug. Drawing a yelp of surprise from the auburn haired Tracy.

For a moment there was a stunned silence then everyone looked at the startled and shocked John.

"John how did you do that" Jeff asked softly.

"You know what dad I haven't the faintest idea" John replied. "I didn't twist the lid that hard. What's happening to me? That's the second impossible thing I've done today."

"The second" Jeff questioned. John quickly filled his father in on what had happened this morning with his hearing. And for a few moments he was met with stunned silence.

"I think we need to examine you again" Jeff said at last. "See if we can find out what is happening to you."

"You know dad that's a very good idea" John agreed he didn't like being poked and prodded but in this instance he would put up with it. He wanted answers.

"We'll go right now" Jeff said decisively and stood up. Everyone else also stood up, breakfast only half eaten and forgotten. "Gordon go and get some clean clothes on" Jeff instructed.

"Okay dad" Gordon replied reluctantly and left the dining room.

"After you John" Jeff said. John began walking out of the dining room heading for the medical equipment in the sickroom. His family, Tin-Tin and Brains following close behind him. All of them wanting the answer to one question.

What was happening to John.


	8. Chapter Eight: More Questions

****

Chapter Eight: More Questions

It took only a few minutes to reach the sickroom from the dining room. As soon as he entered the sickroom John went over to the diagnostic bed and lay down on it with none of his normal reluctance.

Like his brothers he hated lying down on the diagnostic bed, it was hard and when you first lay on it was damn cold. Still it was the best thing for them when it came to diagnosing illness and injury and unlike a flesh and blood doctor it didn't ask awkward questions about how anyone got hurt.

Which considering how often John and his siblings got hurt when on duty as International Rescue that was a good thing, as it helped them keep their very big secret just that secret. So he was grateful for its presence especially in this instance as it spared awkward questions about why he wanted to be scanned again.

As with last night Brains went to the diagnostic beds control panel and proceeded to operate the device. John held himself perfectly still as the diagnostic beds scanning beam swept over him from head to toe.

Brains read the scan results as they appeared on the control panels display screens.

"O…o…odd" Brains stuttered frowning at what he saw on the display. How had that happened? What was going on inside John?

"What is it Brains" Jeff asked.

"The s…s…scan is showing a…a…anomalous activity in every system in John's body" Brains answered. "And we're s…s…still picking up that b…b…biopolymer residue in John's blood but there is more of it now."

"Anomalous activity" John repeated pushing himself up onto his elbows and looking at Brains. "What do you mean by that Brains? And how can more of that residue be in my blood."

"That's j…j…just it John I don't understand what's going on inside you" Brains answered. "As f…f…for the residue its almost like your bodies producing it as a by product."

"A by product" Jeff demanded. "Of what? And is it dangerous"

"I d…d…don't know" Brains answered. "A more in depth scan might possibly tell us more."

"Ok let's do that then" John said lying flat on the diagnostic bed again.

Brains manipulate the controls of the diagnostic bed increasing the scan beam sensitivity to maximum before running another scan of John's body. Again the beds scanning beam swept over John but this time much more slowly taking nearly a minute to complete its sweep before shutting down.

Brains again read the scan results as they came in. The in depth scan had done nothing to shed light on the situation. In fact it made him even more curious about what was going on inside John.

"Well Brains" Virgil prompted.

"The more in depth s…s…scan is still showing a…a…anomalous activity in all systems in John's body. Something strange is happening. Bones, organs, muscles, skin, hair all are changing somehow."

"Changing" John said sharply sitting up and starring at Brains. "Into what? And how"

"I d…d…don't know. The scan has pinpointed some cells in your ears and arm muscles that showing no further signs of changing. They look the same as before but different at the same time. Quite how the changed cells are different I don't know. Even at full resolution the scanners in the diagnostic unit are not sensitive enough to determine that. But I can tell you that the rate of change is accelerating."

John leaned back onto his elbows his mind awhirl. What Brains had just said did not sit well with him at all. In fact it downright frightened him. The knowledge that somehow he was changing was scary. And he was frankly terrified about what could happen when the changes stopped, would he still be human, would he still be John Tracy or will he have been transformed into something else, possibly something completely inhuman.

"Can you stop what's happening to me Brains" he asked.

"Until I k…k…know what's causing it n…n…no" Brains replied. "I d…d…don't even know if it whatever it is can be s…s…stopped."

"But how can we find out what's causing this to happen to John if our medical scanners aren't sensitive enough to find it" Virgil asked. "Unless…" he said his voice trailing off as an idea occurred to him.

"Virgil" Jeff prompted.

"John remember those big bio-scanner units on the way into the lab at that military base yesterday" Virgil said. "And we couldn't figure out an answer as to why they were there."

"Yes I remember" John replied. "What are you getting at Virgil? That whatever is inside of me causing these changes in my body was developed on that base."

"Precisely" Virgil replied. "You did say those scanners were designed to scan down to the sub-molecular level. I think whatever is doing this to you was developed on that base by the US military and that those scanners were there specifically to make sure no one either got infected or stole some of whatever there new toy is."

"But how could I get infected by whatever this is" John asked more concerned now than ever, thoughts of all those old films where factions of the military and intelligence services created virus's that transformed people into living weapons filling his mind. Had they gone and done that in real life?

"I don't know" Virgil admitted.

"Well Brains what do you think" Jeff asked.

"Well Mr T…T…Tracy Virgil's h…hypothesis is certainly very feasible and would explain a lot" Brains answered. "I c…c…could rig up a bio-scanner that would not be a problem we have all the e…e…equipment. But I agree with John I don't see how he could have been infected by w…whatever this is."

"Virgil, John did anything happen in the lab that could explain this" Scott asked. "I know you told me a bank of computers exploded when the river started to breach the lab wall."

"Not really" Virgil replied. "Debris went flying everywhere from the concussion. Smashed a few test tubes sending sprays of some weird liquid everywhere. But none of it came anywhere near us."

"Are you sure" Jeff asked.

"Positive" Virgil replied.

"Me too dad" John added. "Unless it was a very tiny drop that I wouldn't have noticed none of that liquid landed on me or Virgil."

"That's possible I suppose" Gordon said speaking for the first time and frowning. "Not that it helps us. We have absolutely no idea what they were researching there."

"That is a hindrance yes" Jeff agreed. "I'll alert our agents in Washington see if they can find out anything. I need to fill Alan in on all this anyway. How long will it take you to rig up a bio-scanner Brains"

"About f…f…four hours Mr Tracy" Brains replied.

"Get right on it" Jeff instructed.

"Yes Mr Tracy" Brains replied.

As Brains spoke John sat up fully again before swinging his long legs over the side of the diagnostic bed and standing up. He was glad to be off the thing. He couldn't get what Brains had said about him changing somehow out of his head. That fact terrified him. He needed to think about this, to somehow understand why this was happening to him. And to somehow convince himself that he wasn't about to turn into a monster.

"I need to go for a walk" he said at last. Jeff looked at his second born son and thought about it for a moment. He didn't really want John to leave the house not until they knew what was going on with him. Yet he could see in John's blue eyes that he needed some time on his own, time to process what was happening to him. Time to think about it, possibly time to rage about it, and possibly time to cry.

After a moment he nodded. John smiled back at his father then quietly turned and left the room before heading straight for a means to go outside. There were a number of quiet corners on the island that he could go to, to be on his own.

Everyone quietly watched John leave all of them feeling sorry for him and the uncertainty he was now facing. Uncertainty almost certainly caused by the US government and one of there seemingly endless black projects.

Just after John left Jeff sighed.

"I need to go and speak with Alan and alert our agents in Washington" Jeff said.

"Do you think they'll be able to give us some answers dad" Gordon asked.

"I don't know Gordon" Jeff admitted. "I don't know. But for John's sake and for ours we have no choice but to try and find some answers."

"True dad" Scott agreed. "True."

With that Jeff also let the room heading for his office. Scott watched his father leave. He really hoped they got answers soon.

And that they would be able to stop whatever was happening to John.


	9. Chapter Nine: In Search Of Answers

****

Chapter Nine: In Search Of Answers

Jeff Tracy entered his office and sat down behind his desk, he would call International Rescue's Washington agents in a few minutes see if they could find any information on what exactly the US government had been researching at that base. Information that could shed light on what was happening to John. But first he needed to bring Alan up to speed on what was going on. Last night he'd spoken to Alan and Alan had been understandably worried when he told him about John's sudden mysterious illness and how it had seemingly corrected itself.

With a sigh Jeff opened a hailing frequency to Thunderbird Five.

"Base to Thunderbird Five," he said. "Base to Thunderbird Five respond please."

A moment later Alan's portrait on the wall vanished replaced by a real time image of Alan himself. Alan's face was covered in sweat and from the looks of it he was in the small gym that there was on Thunderbird Five as opposed to the main control room. Jeff inwardly smiled to himself realising he'd interrupted a workout.

"Go ahead father," Alan said. "How's John this morning?"

"That's what I'm calling you about Alan," Jeff replied. Alan caught the tone of his father's voice.

"What's happened dad," Alan questioned.

And so Jeff told him. Told him about what John had described about hearing a conversation when he'd woken up that he shouldn't have been able to hear. What happened at the breakfast table this morning with the lid of the jam jar and how John's unexpected strength had wrenched it off the jar and sent it fly. How the scans they'd done in the sickroom had shown that somehow John was changing at the cellular level and Virgil's educated guess that whatever the sub-cellular thing causing John's cells to alter had been picked up by John on the rescue to the US research base yesterday.

In all it took six minutes - six minutes when Alan silently listened to what his father was telling him. When it was over Alan was quiet obviously mulling over everything that Jeff had just told him.

"Is there anything I can do to help dad," Alan said at last a determined gleam in his blue eyes. Alan would do absolutely anything to help John. All Jeff's sons would.

"I don't know Alan," Jeff admitted. "I'm going to contact our Washington operatives see if they can find any information on what the US government was up to in that base."

"I understand," Alan replied then looked thoughtful. "I could try breaking into the US computer network. There is bound to be information in there." Jeff blinked he hadn't thought of that and he silently berated himself for not thinking of it.

Alan and John were both experts with computers and between them had developed many of the computer systems used by International Rescue with only a small amount of assistance from Brains. With the resources of International Rescue's computer network behind them either Alan or John could slip into a government database and find information without being detected. Alan arguably had a better chance finding some information on just what the United States government had been up to on that base than there Washington operatives.

It would actually be wise to pursue both avenues for finding some information.

"Do it," Jeff instructed. "Get back to me as soon as you have something."

"F.A.B," Alan replied. Jeff broke the signal and Alan disappeared from the screen replaced by his portrait. Jeff sighed and spun around to the main radio unit as the telecom unit in the desk that was linked to the portraits only went to certain locations like the boys wristcom's, the Thunderbirds, and Lady Penelope. All other agents would have to be contacted through the other unit.

**

* * *

Thunderbird Five**

Alan swept some of the residual sweat from his run on the treadmill from his forehead after his father broke the connection from Tracy Island. He had been about to hit the weight machines when the call had come in from the island. Now that would have to wait until later. But he didn't care about that. Getting to the bottom of what was happening to John was much more important than a simple workout. What his father had just said worried Alan deeply and he wanted to get to the bottom of it now.

With a sigh he left the gym which like the main lounge and the sleeping quarters he himself used as opposed to the ones next to the control room on the level above.

A few minutes later having quickly had a shower and getting into uniform Alan walked into Thunderbird Five's control room and sat down at the main computer workstation. He had some work to do.

**

* * *

Tracy Island**

Sometime Later

Scott Tracy was getting concerned. John had left the villa just over three hours ago and he had still not returned. He was sitting in the living room. Virgil was uneasily tapping away on his piano trying to loose himself in his music and not really getting anywhere. Gordon had disappeared to go help Brains and dad was in his office trying to loose himself in work relating to Tracy Industries but like Virgil not really having much luck. They were all to worried about John to do anything really.

Scott stood up from his seat making a decision. He was going to go see if he could find John. He wanted - no he needed - to see if he was all right.

"Where are you going Scott," Virgil asked noticing him stand up.

"I'm going to go and look for John," Scott replied heading out of the room. Virgil almost opened his mouth to stop Scott but decided against it. He knew that Scott had his mind made up and nothing that he could say to his older brother would get him to change it. So he kept quiet and watched Scott leave the room.

* * *

John Tracy sat quiet on a rock looking out to sea deep in thought. He had wandered around the island for awhile before coming to his spot on the eastern side of Tracy Island where he could just sit and think. And try to avoid thinking about what was happening inside of him and his fears about what he could transform into. But try as he might he couldn't stop thinking about it. _Why is this happening to me,_ he thought, _what if I turn into a monster like in those old movies? Would I be able to stop myself from hurting my family?_ _Would I even still be me?_

The sound of approaching footsteps caught his attention and distracted him from his fears about possibly changing into a monster. For which John was grateful, as his thoughts and his fears had been becoming darker and darker. Even though the fears might actually prove to unfounded. John looked over in the direction the footsteps were coming from to see a figure walking along the beach towards him rippling in the heat haze of midday. John blinked startled he hadn't released it had gotten that hot because strangely he wasn't feeling the heat. He was perfectly comfortable despite the searing tropical heat of midday.

John tried to make out who the approaching figure was and what happened next startled him. His vision seemed to focus in on the creature like he was looking through a telescopic lens. The heat haze evaporated and John saw that it was Scott. John blinked and shook his head. And when he looked again he saw that Scott's approaching form was once more obscured in the heat haze. _How did I see like that?_ John wondered, _guess my vision is another thing in me that is changing. Will these changes in me never stop! What is causing them? And what are they doing to me?_

Soon Scott was close enough for John to see him normally.

"Hey Scott," he said in greeting.

"Hello John," Scott said coming to the rock that John was sitting on and carefully climbing up beside him. "Are you alright?"

"I'm fine," John lied. Scott gave him a look that said 'pull the other one'. John sighed to himself he should have known better than to think he would be able to fool Scott. He was good at hiding his feelings from his brothers the only siblings who could see through him were Scott and surprisingly Alan.

"No that's wrong," John admitted looking back out of the tranquil blue ocean surrounding the tropical island paradise that was his home. "Truth is Scott I'm scared. No that's to tame a word. I'm terrified."

"I can understand that," Scott replied putting an arm across John's shoulders. "What's happening to you would scare anyone."

"What's going to happen to me Scott?" John asked even though he knew that Scott had no answers. "What did they design whatever this thing that's changing me to do? What if I…?" John's voice trailed off he didn't want to put the fear gnawing away at him into words for fear of sounding stupid.

"What if you what John?" Scott prompted. "Spit it out. I promise whatever it is I won't laugh." John sighed.

"What if I really change Scott?" he said. "What if this thing inside me transforms me into a monster."

Scott didn't answer for a moment. He could see where John was coming from. All those movies they'd watched when they were kids featured this kind of thing. A mysterious organism usually a retrovirus covertly developed by someone - usually a government or rouge intelligence agency - that caused the person infected with it to undergo a horrifying metamorphosis into a monster that would promptly go on a killing rampage without any sign of the human it had originally been. This situation with John was like something out of one of those movies.

"I don't think that's going to happen John," he said honestly.

"You can't be sure of that though," John replied.

"You're right I can't," Scott answered. "Though John if you were going to go through that kind of metamorphosis I would have thought there would have been some sign of it by now. As it is all that's happening is you're getting really, really strong and your hearing is better."

"And my eyesight," John replied. "Virtually from the moment I looked over at you I saw you perfectly as if I was right next to you at one point. The distance and heat haze just didn't seem to be there." He looked over at Scott and smiled. "You know Scott I think you're right. If I were going to start transforming into a monster it would have shown before now. But there is no way to be sure that it won't still happen."

"Guess the only way we'll know is when Bra…" Scott's voice trailed off when both his and John's wristcom's began bleeping for attention.

Scott answered his wristcom. And wasn't surprised when his fathers face appeared in place of his watch display.

"Yes dad," he replied.

"Scott is John with you," Jeff asked.

"Yes he is dad why?" Scott asked.

"Brains has finished rigging up that bio-scanner unit in the sickroom," Jeff replied. Scott exchanged a look with John. Though John was not thrilled at the idea of another visit to the sickroom - like all of them he avoid that room like the plague only going in when he had to - today he was eager to get some answers about what was happening to him and what was causing it. Still they were both surprised that the bio-scanner was ready now.

"Already," Scott replied. "Thought he said four hours."

"He did," Jeff responded. "But with a little help from Gordon he was able to get it done in just over three hours." Scott nodded in understanding. While not as good an engineer as Virgil or Alan the copperheaded aquanaught was still formidable when it came to using a spanner or screwdriver. Especially when he had sufficient motivation like now.

"We'll be right there," he answered his father. Jeff nodded and broke the connection. Scott looked over at John to see John was already hopping off the rock onto the beach to begin the journey back to the villa. Smiling Scott hopped off the rock himself and caught up with John. Together the two oldest Tracy sons headed back towards the villa.

Both hoping that at last they were going to get some answers.


	10. Chapter Ten: Answers

****

Chapter Ten: Answers

Thunderbird Five

That Same Time

Alan Tracy smiled triumphantly as the program he was using to break into the US government computer network slipped in through the last of their firewalls into the main information system. There would still be barriers around specific areas for him to get through but that would not be a problem. Feeding in the search request for information on any and all technologies that had been undergoing research and development at the research base in Nevada he waited.

After a moment the search program reported back that it had detected additional firewalls and guardian programs designed to catch any unwary intruder or unauthorised person from accessing that part of the database. A part that Alan noticed uneasily was used extensively by both the wing of the military that dealt with black projects and the intelligence services especially the CIA and NSA. The fact that those two paranoid agencies could have been involved in whatever had been researched at that base was worrying.

He made a few adjustments on the console before him and then sat back to wait for the search program to slip past the guardian programs and through the firewalls. Hopefully it would not be long before he got his father some answers about what exactly the government had been up to at that base. And what it was doing to John.

**

* * *

Sickroom**

Tracy Island

Scott and John were unsurprisingly the last ones to arrive at the sickroom and it came as no surprise to them to see the whole family – except Alan of course and grandma who was still away on the US mainland – waiting for them along with Brains, Kyrano and Tin-Tin.

No one spoke as they came into the room and moved towards where Brains was standing at the diagnostic bed. As he approached the diagnostic bed again John took in the adjustments that Brains and Gordon had made to it. Long tracks had been added to the left and right side of the diagnostic bed and each mounted a slim bio-scanner unit. The pylon like units lacked the elegance of the commercially available models but that was no surprise considering that Brains had made them in a hurry. Both units trailed optical cabling that plugged into the base of the diagnostic bed.

"I know the set-up doesn't look pretty but it will do the job we need it to do," Gordon said watching John.

"Looking nice doesn't matter as long as we get some answers," John answered as he climbed up onto the diagnostic bed and lay down flat on the surface.

"T…T…True," Brains agreed. "Are you ready John?"

"As ready as I'll ever be," John replied hiding his nervousness about what Brains might find.

Brains gave John a reassuring smile then turned to the control console and powered up the new systems of the diagnostic bed before bringing the other systems on line as well.

The inward facing panels on the bio-scanner units lit up then a band of translucent green light grew between the two units. Then they began moving slowly along the track the glowing scan field between them passing through John's body scanning him right down to the submolecular level. To John the scan felt really, really strange as the scan passed along him the parts of his body the scan beam was currently going through tingled weirdly - it wasn't strictly unpleasant but it wasn't really comfortable either. And even when it passed a faint tingling like very mild pins and needles remained behind for several seconds

The scan took almost two minutes to complete – two minutes that got increasingly uncomfortable for John. He sighed in relief when the bio-scanners shut down their sweep completed. But then the normal diagnostic scan unit came on again at its maximum sensitivity and slowly swept John's body with its laser-fan like scanning beam taking almost a minute to complete its task.

Brains examined the analysis as soon as it appeared on the consoles display screens. The analysis took longer than it normally would as the amount of information gathered by the bio-scanners and the diagnostic sweep was far more than the amount of data the system was normally designed to cope with. Indeed Brains had had to add data buffers between the bio-scanners and the main diagnostic system for the whole thing to work in the first place.

But what he saw when the scan results finally popped up on his screen made his jaw drop open in amazement. _What on earth are these things,_ he thought.

"Well Brains," Jeff Tracy prompted. "What has the scan revealed?" John sat up and looked at Brains and had the situation been any different he would have laughed at the completely dumbfounded look on the technical genius's face.

"What is it?" John prompted.

"I'm p…p…putting it up on the m…m…main monitor," Brains stammered as he wasn't sure he would be able to describe what he saw.

Everyone turned their attention to the sickrooms main monitor screen as it lit up showing a false colour magnified image of a section of John's blood stream. There floating over the magnified images of blood cells was something's that were well and truly bizarre and definitely did not look like they belonged inside the human body.

The main body of the objects was a smoothed oval shape inlayed with an incredibly intricate looking pattern of electronic circuitry. Yet the rest of the main body seemed be organic. It was like a fusion of a living organism and a machine. Projected from the body of the objects were a number of small tendrils that seemed to end with tiny manipulative tools of somekind.

"What on earth are those," Scott said finding his voice.

"I'm not sure," Brains admitted. "But I b…b…believe that what were seeing is some form of n…n…nanotechnology."

"Nanotechnology," Virgil repeated shocked. "But that's practically impossible. No ones ever been able to develop a practical form of nanotechnology."

"Well it doesn't look like an impossibility anymore Virgil," John said. "And these things are inside me? Floating around in my blood?" Brains nodded.

"T…T…There not just in your blood John," Brains said manipulating his controls. "This is an image of one of cells in your body that h…h…has be c…c…changed."

An image of a cell in John's body magnified thousands of times appeared on the big screen. And there _inside_ the cell was one of the nano things. Yet it was slightly different to the ones that were floating around in John's blood. The main body was still an oval shape but slimmer and edging closer to being round like the cell it was in. There were many more tendrils coming from the central body, yet they seemed different somehow and they were _interfacing_ with the rest of the cell.

John was stunned.

"My god," he breathed in shock. "So these nano things whatever they are, are what's causing my cells to change?"

"Yes," Brains said. "The p…p…process is still ongoing but the diagnostic scan shows that eighty-five percent of the cells in your body have now been c…c…changed. I estimate that the change will be c…c…complete within another two hours."

"So what are these things doing to me," John asked. That after all was the question that he really wanted answered. They now knew why his cells were changing and what was doing it but what exactly were these nano machines doing to him.

"They s…s…seem to be enhancing the p…p…performance of every system in your somehow."

"To what end," John asked stunned.

"I don't know," Brains replied. "Your g…g…guess is as good as mine."

"Maybe Alan will be able to provide the answer to that question," Jeff said thoughtfully. "He's using the computers on Thunderbird Five to sneak into the US governments computer network."

"That will be easy enough for him," John replied grinning. "The firewalls and guard programs the US government use are good but no match for our systems. And the beauty of it is they won't even know we've been there." Everyone in the room grinned at that.

Before anyone else could reply a bleeping came from the intercom unit indicating that a message was coming in from Thunderbird Five. In unison Jeff, Scott, Virgil, Gordon and Brains left the sickroom. John hopped off the diagnostic bed and followed with Tin-Tin coming along behind him.

They reached the main living room just as Jeff answered the hail from Thunderbird Five.

"Go ahead Alan," John heard his dad saying as Alan's portrait on the wall disappeared replaced by a real time image of Alan himself backdropped by Thunderbird Five's control room.

"Dad I've got the information you wanted," Alan said immediately.

**

* * *

Thunderbird Five**

A Few Moments Earlier

Alan read through the information that the search program had retrieved from the US government's database about what exactly the government had been researching on that base in Nevada. There was a lot of information here about a variety of different projects. Naturally most were to do with weapons design and new defence systems. Though one was a design for a sensor that according to Thunderbird Five's computer once put into production and use would be able to break even International Rescue's stealth technology. Alan would have to give that design to Brains as soon as possible so he could make adjustments or improvements to their stealth technology to counter the sensor. The sensor design might also be able to improved upon by Brains for use on the Thunderbirds as the information indicated that it had some really impressive capabilities.

Alan only found one project that could be doing anything to John. And he could barely believed what it was. Somehow some genius working for the United States government had after almost three decades of work developed a practical form of nanotechnology called nanites. The engineer in Alan was very impressed with the accomplishment even though he was disgusted at some of the things the government was considering using their new technology for. Thankfully they wouldn't really be able to do anything with it for awhile. According to the last entry in the database the destruction of the base had meant valuable research data had been lost, data that would take at least a decade to recover. The surviving nanites – the ones rescued by the researcher – had been designed for one purpose. And reading over the information Alan was willing to be it was those nanites that were what was causing John to change.

Alan manipulated his controls and hailed Tracy Island. After a moments waiting his father's face appeared on the communications screen.

"Go ahead Alan," Jeff Tracy said.

"Dad I've got the information you wanted," he replied. "I think I know what is happening to John though it's pretty hard to believe."

"We've found out a few things ourselves," Jeff answered and explained what the bio-scan had revealed. "But we have no idea what these nano machines…"

"Nanites," Alan interrupted. "They are called nanites dad."

"Oh!" Jeff replied. "But as I was saying we have no idea what these nanites are doing to John. We know some are merging with his cells somehow but for what purpose we do not know."

"I think I can answer that question," Alan answered. "I've had a look over the information. There is a lot of it and most goes way over my head but I understand enough to be able to tell you."

"Go on," Jeff prompted.

"Basically dad the nanites that are in John as designed to transform a normal human into a superhuman by enhancing the bodies capabilities dramatically. Sensory perception, strength, speed, reflexes, agility all become enhanced. To what degree is not said."

"Wow," Alan heard Scott's voice say from off screen.

"But there are drawbacks," Alan added.

"Such as," Jeff prompted.

"Increase nutritional needs. The nanites are biomechanical their organic component requires food to survive just like any living thing. And the machine part is powered by that part of the nanite. Basically dad John's going to have to eat more than normal to cope with the energy demand or eat more high-energy foods. Otherwise it could result in nanites starting to shut down and that would be a very bad thing."

"How so," Jeff asked.

"Another drawback of the nanites is that once they're a part of a person they can't be removed," Alan answered. "The team at the research base were trying to solve that thorny little problem but weren't getting anywhere. Basically once the nanites are part of the human body as they're becoming with John then the body becomes completely dependent on them for continued function. Any attempt to remove them could lead to what the information terms total systemic collapse." Alan flinched slightly as he said that. Total systemic collapse was just another way of saying that if the nanites were removed from John's body it would kill him.

For a couple of moments there was silence over the communications link with the island. Alan could tell from the look on his fathers face that he knew what they information meant by total systemic collapse as well.

"I see," Jeff said at last. "Send the information down here so Brains can have a look at it."

"F.A.B dad," Alan replied. "And dad there is something else that I found. But its not related to the nanites but it's a real threat to us."

"Go on," Jeff answered catching the seriousness immediately.

"Dad the US government has come up with a prototype sensor system. A sensor that from the quick analysis I did up here will see through our stealth technology like its not even there. Once these sensors are put into production in a month they'll be able to track us wherever we go. I've got the design specs here."

"Send it down here with the nanite information," Jeff instructed.

"F.A.B," Alan replied flipping some of his controls. "I'm sending the data to the computer in Brains lab now."

"F.A.B Alan."

**

* * *

Tracy Island**

John sat back on one of the couches in the living room area his mind awhirl as he tried to fully process what Alan had said the nanites were doing to him. The nanites were changing him into somekind of superhuman. It was hard to believe yet it was better than turning into a monster which is what he'd feared and it certainly explained a few things.

Like how he'd heard what dad and Virgil were saying this morning when he should not have been able to, it was the enhancements in his hearing starting to come into play. The thing with the jam jar lid had been the first sign of his increasing strength and the thing on the beach when he had seen Scott as if he was standing next to him.

John frowned when he heard Alan speaking about the sensor that had been developed by the US government. A sensor capable of penetrating the stealth technology they used to prevent someone tracking the Thunderbirds back here to Tracy Island. And John was willing to be that wasn't a coincidence that the sensor could do that. He was willing to lay odds that it had been designed with penetration of their stealth technology in mind. Certain parts of the US government and military had made no secret that they believed that the Thunderbirds should belong in their hands. Never mind that they would use the technology to destroy life not save it.

"Data transfer complete dad," Alan's voice said.

"F.A.B Alan," Jeff replied.

"That new sensor has some pretty impressive capabilities dad other than penetrating our stealth systems," Alan said. "With a few improvements and modifications we could integrate it with our own systems."

"I'll look at it," Brains replied intrigued he would have to analyse the sensor design anyway to make adjustments to there stealth technology or redesign it completely at any rate.

"Is there anything else Alan," Jeff asked. Alan shook his head.

"That's all I have dad," Alan replied. "Do you want me to get back into the database and see if I can get some more information?"

"No the information you've found is enough Alan. Well done." Alan smiled at the word of praise from his father. One didn't get praise out of Jeff Tracy very often so when it happened it was something to treasure.

"I better get back to work," Alan said at last. Jeff nodded and Alan broke the connection from his end. His face disappeared and the portrait reappeared instead.

Jeff turned to look over at John who still had a thoughtful look on his face, obviously still taking all this in.

"Are you alright with this John," he asked concerned.

"To be honest dad I'm not sure," John admitted. "But I guess I've got no choice but to learn to live with it. Who knows I might even come to like it." He sighed and stood up. "But that's for the feature right now I just need to go for a walk to clear my head."

Jeff nodded and John started to leave the room when a wave of dizziness accompanied by a wave of exhaustion rippled through his head. John stumbled and was quickly caught by Virgil otherwise he would have fallen.

"John are you alright," Scott asked.

"I don't know," John replied. "All of a sudden I felt really dizzy and really tired. Whoa." Another wave of exhaustion and dizziness rippled through his head and he leaned against Virgil to avoid falling.

"You haven't eaten properly today," Scott said thoughtfully. "None of us have. And Alan did say you'd have to eat more because of the things inside you. Maybe that's what's causing this."

"A l…l…logical conclusion Scott," Brains agreed.

"Well that settles it you're going to eat John before you go anywhere," Jeff said. "Kyrano."

"Yes Mr Tracy," Kyrano said appearing immediately from the corner where he had been quietly listening to what was going on. "I will go and get Mr John some food." Jeff nodded and Kyrano left.

Meanwhile Virgil helped John over to the couch where John sat down fighting against the sudden urge to go to sleep. He hoped that Kyrano got back soon with some food because he suspected that Scott was right. He needed to eat something now. Because if he didn't he did not want to think of what could happen.


	11. Chapter Eleven: Testing

Authors Note: Hi everyone. Sorry that this took so long. I hate writers block.

* * *

**Chapter Eleven: Testing**

Tracy Island

Next Morning

John Tracy awoke the next morning with a mix of expectation and trepidation. Today they would begin finding out what exactly the tiny machines within him had done to him altogether and John couldn't wait to find out. Yet at the same time he was a little nervous about what they might find.

He knew that the nanites had completed their integration with his body late yesterday evening. John knew because shortly before he had gone to bed, he had begun to really feel the difference in his body. And he could still feel it now.

It was a feeling of power and strength that seemed to come from every cell in his body at the same time. It was a strange and amazing, but at the same time frightening, sensation. He was fully aware that he could now easily hurt someone without meaning to, at least until he learned how to control his body's new abilities. But to do that he would first need to know the extent of those abilities. And that was the reason for what they were going to do today.

As he sat up, John noticed that the feeling inside him was weaker now that it had been last night and that at the same time there was a strong feeling of hunger in his stomach. But there wasn't yet any sign of that terrible exhaustion he had experienced yesterday after Alan had signed off, relaying the information that he had found with the aid of the powerful mainframe on Thunderbird Five. That feeling of exhaustion had only ended when he'd eaten some sandwiches and a protein bar that Kyrano had brought him.

Guess the nanites inside me are starting to run low on energy, John thought as he climbed out of bed. _But the lack of power isn't critical yet. Good. I should have time for a shower before breakfast._ John sighed to himself as it again dawned on him that he could now not afford to miss any meals. Like all his brothers and his father he had a habit of occasionally doing that while working on something. It was going to be a hard habit to break.

John thought as he climbed out of bed. John sighed to himself as it again dawned on him that he could now not afford to miss any meals. Like all his brothers and his father he had a habit of occasionally doing that while working on something. It was going to be a hard habit to break. 

John sighed again and headed into the _en suite _bathroom for his regular morning shower.

* * *

Breakfast was surprisingly uneventful though John found himself being very careful when he buttered his toast so as not to knock anything accidentally flying. He reached for the jar of jam and laughed when he saw Gordon move as if to duck. He was again seated by the milk jug and did not want to get another potential milk shower like the one he'd gotten yesterday.

"Relax, Gordon, I'm not going to send the top of the jam jar flying this morning," John said. _I hope,_ he added to himself.

"Can you blame me for being cautious after what happened yesterday when you opened the jam?"

"No," John admitted. "Though I didn't do that on purpose."

"I know. That's why I won't be paying you back with a little interest," Gordon replied, a momentary devilish gleam in his eyes. Everyone one knew that by payback and interest Gordon meant a prank.

Looking at John, Gordon realised that playing a prank on John and getting away with it was going to be a bit more challenging now. John being suddenly quicker and stronger than the rest of them meant it would be harder to escape his wrath. And when subjected to a prank even the quiet and mild-mannered John Tracy could get very disagreeable; never mind that it was all harmless fun. Gordon inwardly quietly relished the new challenge. Once they had found out just what John could do and how much the nanites had enhanced his body, he would start plotting a great prank to play on his older brother.

John sighed and shook his head, guessing from the look in Gordon's eyes what his younger brother was thinking about. _Going to have to be on your guard for a little bit, John,_ he thought. Even as he thought that, he opened the jar of jam, being careful in the amount of force he used. It came off easier than he would have thought it would.

"See? No flying lid," he said, smiling.

"Yeah, Gordon, you were worrying about nothing," Virgil added. "Course if you want to get covered in milk, John could always throw the lid at the jug."

"No thanks," Gordon replied and his older brothers laughed.

"Enough playing around now, boys. Let's just get on with breakfast, shall we?" Jeff said.

"You're right, Dad," John replied, eager to get breakfast over with so they could actually start finding out just what the nanites had done to him.

**

* * *

Tracy Island Gym**

A Short Time Later

John took a deep nervous breath as he along with his father, brothers, Brains and Tin-Tin entered the island gym, which was just down the corridor on the ground floor from the sickroom.

Now that they were about to start finding out just what the nanites had done to him, how far they'd enhanced his bodies physical abilities, he was more nervous that he had been in along time. In fact that last time John could recall being this nervous was when he had been summoned before NASA's astronaut selection panel for the first time, after his request for astronaut training had been submitted to and considered by them.

After they'd finished breakfast he'd gone back up to his room and gotten dressed into the clothes he normally wore for a workout. Now he was clad in dark blue tracksuit trousers while wearing a white sleeveless muscle T-shirt.

"So what should we do first," John asked as they stood just inside the gym looking at the array of exercise machines and free weights that filled the gym.

"W…w…well John first you should put this on," Brains said holding out a slim armband like object. "It will a…a…allow us to monitor your bodily systems during the t…t…tests."

"Sure thing Brains," John replied taking the sensor armband from Brains, he slid it along his right arm until was secure around the upper part of his arm.

"So what shall we look at first," Virgil asked.

"I would suggest that we follow a normal workout format," John suggested. "We could use the treadmill first as it will serve two purposes. It will allow me to warm up and we can go from there to seeing how fast I can go and get an idea how long I would be able to keep it up."

"Good idea son," Jeff replied. "Once we've done that we can start trying to workout just how strong the nanites have made you. Brains you have had a chance to go over the material Alan sent down from Thunderbird Five. Was there any mention of the level of enhancement bestowed by the nanites?"

"N…n…no Mr Tracy. Alan was c…c…correct when he said that the level of nanite enhancement is not s…s…specified," Brains replied, he had gone over the data in detail and while he didn't yet understand it all, he understood enough to be reasonably confident in the answers he gave. "According to the information tests to d…d…determine the level of enhancement were d…d…due to be carried out at the r…r…research base at the time of the e…e…explosion. Any research that was done was lost with the base."

"Then we will just have to find our own answers," Jeff said.

"Dad's right," John said. "So what are we standing around here for?"

Listening to John Scott hid a smile, while John's voice was calm like it always was it was obvious to him at least that John was getting a bit impatient with doing nothing, desperately wanting to start finding out just what his enhanced body could do. Scott understood what John was feeling, if he were in John's position he would be just the same.

"Yes we should get started," Brains said moving towards one of the treadmills. John followed immediately with everyone else following him.

In moments they were beside the treadmill and John stepped up onto the track. Brains held up a small electronic pad, remotely linked to the sensors in the armband John was wearing, and turned it on.

"Okay John. I want you to s…s…start slow then start picking up s…s…speed," Brains said.

"Sure thing Brains," John replied before pressing the button that started up the treadmill.

Then he started moving at a brisk walking pace. Once he was comfortably into the rhythm he picked up the pace into a jog. John was surprised to find that he felt perfectly normal, when a jog like this should have at least caused him to start breaking out in a light sweat.

Brains checked the readings on his pad even as John started to run. He blinked in surprise when he saw that there was no change at all in the readings, as far as the sensor showed John might as well have been standing still.

"How are you feeling John," Virgil asked.

"Fine," John replied. "I should be starting to feel hot and sweaty running like this but I feel perfectly normal."

"Your r…r…readings are showing normal," Brains added. "According to this you might as well be standing still John." John blinked in surprise as Brains spoke even though it fitted in with how he was feeling at the moment.

"Maybe you should try running faster John," Scott suggested. "Really let loose and see just how fast you can go."

"I think you're right Scott," John agreed

"Give it a go son," Jeff added.

"Right dad," John replied and began running a bit faster, then faster again. Yet still he wasn't even noticing the exertion or even starting to sweat. So he decided to really push himself to see if he could go even faster than this. He picked up his pace some more, and suddenly felt something happen inside him. Something that felt like an internal power surge and he suddenly felt powerful, really, really powerful and strong as if nothing could hurt him. His pace increased till the point when his feet were barely even touching the treadmill at all.

Watching in amazement Scott, Virgil, Jeff, Tin-Tin and Brains stared in shock as John's pace increased to the point where the movement of his legs was little more than a blur. Seeing a human running at what was obviously an extremely high speed was incredible and a little frightening.

Brains forced himself to look away from John and at the pad display to see what was happening. What he saw surprised him, the nanites were somehow boosting the efficiency of John's muscles beyond anything previously thought possible, yet every system in John's body remained at a perfect equilibrium, with no system showing any stress. John's muscles were producing almost nothing in the way of waste products, no lactic acid, no nothing, or if some was being produced it was in such a small amount that he could not detect it. He would have to analyse these readings properly at a later time to determine exactly what was happening inside John.

John looked at the speed indicator on the treadmills computer display and gasped when he saw how fast he was running. According to the display he was running at a hundred miles an hour, John stared at it in disbelief. He was so shocked and he watched as the speed display began dropping as he slowed down to a brisk walk and finally stopped. Automatically the treadmill stopped moving.

"I can't believe I was running that fast," John said still stunned by how fast he had been going.

"How fast were you going John," Virgil asked. "You certainly looked like you were going pretty fast."

"According to that," John gestured at the treadmill display, "I was running at a hundred miles per hour."

For a moment there was stunned silence.

"Wow," Gordon said at last. "Did you feel anything when you were going that fast?"

"Not to indicate how fast I was going," John replied. "Though I did feel something. It's hard to describe. But it suddenly felt like there was this power surge inside me and suddenly I felt…" John's voice trailed off as he tried to find the words to explain how he had felt.

"Felt what," Jeff prompted curious as to what John was going to say.

"I felt strong," John replied after a few seconds of silence. "Really, really powerful. I felt like," he paused for a moment to collect his thoughts, "felt like I was invincible. That nothing could touch me or harm me. Now that I think about it the experience was somewhat scary. It was like the ultimate high. It would be dangerously easy to get carried away on it."

"If the nanites have made you that fast," Scott mused thinking again about how fast John had been going, "then how strong have they made you?"

"I don't know," John replied. "And truth be told I am a little scared about finding out. But at the same time I want to and need to know."

"Understandable," Virgil commented. "We should get started on trying to work out how strong you are now."

"Yeah and I have a thought to figure out how we do that," John said.

"What are you t…t…thinking John," Brains asked.

John opened his mouth to reply, when abruptly an all too familiar alarm abruptly rent the air. _Typical! Why can't the international rescue alarm have better timing,_ John thought as like everyone else he began walking out of the gym in response to the alarm that had been triggered automatically when a hail about a rescue was received from Thunderbird Five. _I wonder whose in trouble this time,_ John thought as they hurried through the hallways of the villa towards the main room.

John hoped that it would be something minor - something they could deal with quickly, then they could get back to the business of finding out what the nanites had done to him.

But somehow he knew that was unlikely. Some strange six sense, honed over the last few years, ever since International Rescue began operating, told him that whatever was wrong was something major. A glance at his brothers and father showed John that they felt it too. That whatever mission Alan had lined up for them was going to be something on a scale that they hadn't dealt with in a long time.

So it was a very nervous group of Tracy's who raced into the main room. John stood quietly off to the side with his brothers, while Jeff went over to his desk to press the controls that would acknowledge the signal from Thunderbird Five, as evidenced by the urgent flashing of the eyes on Alan's portrait.


	12. Chapter Twelve: Trial By Fire Part One

****

Enhanced

Chapter Twelve: Trial By Fire Part One

Thunderbird Five

A Few Minutes Earlier

Alan Tracy jumped a mile when the communications panel on the wall of Thunderbird Five's kitchen/dining area bleeped indicating an emergency signal was being received. _Typical,_ he thought, _just when I'm sitting down to have my lunch the alarm goes off._

With a sigh he stood up the table leaving behind the salad that he had just made himself before heading for the control room at a run.

It took him only moments to reach Thunderbird Five's control room and move over to the communications station as a desperate voice came over the radio.

"Calling International Rescue, calling International Rescue, please respond," a half-panicked male voice said. "International Rescue if you hear me please respond." Alan took a second to compose himself properly then he picked up the small microphone with one hand and pressed the button that opened the channel.

"This is International Rescue space station receiving your signal," he said into the microphone.

"Oh thank god I thought I would never get through," the man's voice replied immediately sounding calmer but not by much. "My name is Jonathan Fraiser I'm the managing director of Transcontinental Chemicals plant outside Sydney, Australia. We are in desperate need of your assistance."

"How can we help," Alan asked.

"There has been an explosion here at the plant. Several workers are trapped on one of the main buildings by fire and debris. The fire is spreading rapidly and its heading right for the main storage tanks if it reaches them this whole place will go up."

"What do you manufacture," Alan asked knowing it was important that they knew what they could be dealing with as they tried to save the trapped workers and put out the fire.

"It's a refinery and processing plant. We refine both alsterene and extract deuterium from sea water."

Alan flinched hearing that on there own alsterene and deuterium were volatile materials and both were highly flammable, especially deuterium since it was after all an isotope of hydrogen. If either alsterene or deuterium exploded on there own they would produce a hell of a big bang, together they would go off with the same explosive force as a tactical nuclear weapon, or in other words with enough force to wipe a large part of Sydney off the face of the Earth.

"Situation understood," Alan said at last.

"Can you help us," Fraiser asked.

"We will certainly try," Alan replied. "Stand by to hear from us on this channel."

"Understood International Rescue. Standing by."

Alan pressed the control that put Mr Fraiser on hold then opened a channel to Tracy Island and sent the emergency signal. When he was not answered immediately Alan frowned, that wasn't like his family, normally there was at least one person in the main sitting room to answer a call. He couldn't help but wonder if the sudden absence had something to do with John and the nanite things inside him. Alan pressed the button again sending a second signal to Tracy Island. He pressed a side button that set the signal to auto-repeat it would continue to sound until someone answered him.

Finally the call was answered and his father's face appeared on the communications screen, his father looking slightly out of breath, clearly having run to the main room.

"Go ahead Alan," his father's voice said.

**

* * *

Main Sitting Room**

Tracy Island,** A Few Moments Earlier**

, 

Jeff Tracy hurried over to his desk gasping slightly from the run to the main sitting room from the gym. At the back of his mind he was conscious though that a run like that once would not have bothered him. _Need to spend more time in the gym Jefferson,_ he told himself, _you're getting out of shape._

Getting his breath back as much as he could he pressed the button to answer the call and Alan's portrait vanished to be replaced by a live video transmission.

"Go ahead Alan," Jeff said, quietly hoping like his sons that this emergency was going to be something minor but having the strangest feeling that in this instance he was going to be wrong.

"Father I've just received a distress call from the manager of the Transcontinental Chemicals plant outside Sydney, Australia," Alan replied. Listening in Scott, Virgil, Gordon and John winced slightly. A rescue at a big industrial facility like a chemical plant was always tricky to say the least. "There has been an explosion and people are trapped in one of the main buildings by debris and fire. From the managing directors voice it sounds like the whole place is an inferno, and there is another problem. The fire is heading for the main chemical storage tanks at the centre of the plant. The plant is a refinery and processing facility for deuterium and alsterene." _Ouch,_ Jeff thought.

"Oh my god," Virgil said. "If the fire reaches those tanks…" Virgil didn't need to finish as they all knew what would happen if the fire reached those tanks, that the resultant explosion would be like a small nuke going off.

After a moment of horrified silence Jeff spoke up.

"Alan tell them that we are on our way," he said at last. "Scott away you go."

"Yes father," Scott and Alan replied in unison. Alan disappeared from his screen replaced by the image of his portrait while Scott moved over to the wall lights that concealed the entrance to Thunderbird One's silo. Grasping the wall lights with both hands he held on tight as the mechanism engaged and the wall swivelled around and the main room disappeared from his view to be replaced by the sight of Thunderbird One standing a few feat in front of him.

Scott smiled softly and stepped forward onto the lift platform that would take him across to the side of his beloved Thunderbird.

John watched Scott leave then he turned to look at his father just as Jeff spoke to Virgil.

"Virgil away you go you will need pod five," Jeff said. "Take Gordon with you."

"Yes father," Virgil replied.

"Sure dad," Gordon added.

John watched as Virgil started to move over to the rocket that hid the chute to Thunderbird Two while Gordon started to leave the room for the passenger lift. Thinking about the situation John realised that there best chance of stopping the fire and rescuing the trapped workers would be if he went as well. Then there would be the maximum number of crew on Thunderbird Two and that would mean more hands available so more machines could be operated at once.

"Father," John said before Virgil could reach the rocket portrait or Gordon could completely leave the room. Both paused in their movement to hear what John was going to say though they both had a very good idea what he was going to say.

"Yes John," Jeff asked looking at John in curiosity wondering what John was going to say.

"I should go as well," John replied inwardly bracing himself to be told that he couldn't go.

Jeff looked at John intently considering what to do, he could tell that John really wanted to on this mission and he could see the merit of John going on the rescue. Under any other circumstances he wouldn't hesitate to send John on the rescue. But in the aftermath of the rescue at that military research base in Nevada things were not normal for John. Until John was fully capable of controlling the abilities that his accidental infusion with nanites had given him he didn't really want to risk sending him out in the field. Yet he could also see what John could see. An additional pair of hands in the danger zone could make all the differences between saving the trapped workers and stopping the fire and the plant blowing up and destroying half of Sydney in the process.

John waited patiently for his father's decision mentally crossing his fingers hoping his father would let him go. He could understand why his father would not want him to go and the truth be told he was a bit nervous about going on a rescue now that his body had abilities that he still did not completely know or understand.

Standing nearby Virgil and Gordon also waited for Jeff to make his decision. After a few more moments of silence, broken only by a distant humming of powerful motors as the swimming pool that hid the top of Thunderbird One's silo was being pulled back, Jeff finally looked straight at John.

"All right John you can go," he said at last. "But be careful and stop immediately if you start feeling tired." John sighed in relief and smiled.

"I'll be careful dad thanks," John replied already deciding that on the way to the passenger lift to Thunderbird Two he would quickly nip into the storeroom for the kitchen and grab some protein bars, just to ensure that the nanites in him didn't run out of energy midway through the rescue which would be inconvenient to say the least.

Still smiling John started to leave the room even as sounding extremely loud to his enhanced hearing the roar of rocket engines could be heard as Thunderbird One blasted off. Gordon matched his pace and together the two of them left the room.

Virgil watched them leave then headed for the rocket portrait. Leaning against it he waited for a moment then the portrait pivoted and Virgil slid on his back off the portrait onto the transport sled that would take him down his own personal thrill ride to Thunderbird Two.

**

* * *

A Short Time Later**

Dressed in his uniform Virgil turned his head at the sound of the passenger lift arriving in Thunderbird Two. Looking at it he saw both Gordon and John in the lift, both in full uniform, though John also was holding what looked to be a protein bar.

"You two ready," Virgil asked them.

"As ready as well ever be," Gordon replied as himself and John moved to the passenger seats and sat down.

"Let's get going Virgil," John added. Virgil smiled and then turned back to his controls and pressed the commands that started the complex launch sequence for Thunderbird Two.

From the passenger seat he was sat in John kept his eyes focused on the front windows as the view outside started to change as first Thunderbird Two began to lower to embrace the selected pod. After a moment movement stopped and John watched as Virgil's experienced hands danced over the controls.

In the distance his enhanced hearing picked up a series of dull thuds as locking clamps engaged making the pod an integral part of Thunderbird Two's hull. Then slowly Thunderbird Two began moving again, this time moving forward.

John leaned back in his seat and undid the wrapping on his protein bar before taking a bite. He hoped that the protein bar on top of the large breakfast that they'd all eaten an hour ago would keep the nanites inside him operational for the duration of mission. As daylight began to appear ahead John sighed to himself and put all thoughts of the nanites that were now such a fundamental part of him from his mind. Instead he started thinking about the mission they were on and wondering what they might have to do to stop the fire at the refinery and save the trapped workers.


	13. Chapter Thirteen: Trial By Fire Part Two

****

Chapter Thirteen: Trial By Fire Part Two

Thunderbird One

A Short Time Later

Scott Tracy grimaced as he guided Thunderbird One over the busy Australian city of Sydney. Things did not look good even from here. A massive cloud of thick black smoke hung in the sky rising from the refinery outside the city. The wind was thankfully blowing the cloud and any possible toxic elements in it away from Sydney not that the wind would save the city if the refinery exploded.

The burning refinery came into view a few miles outside the city itself and Scott quietly groaned at the site on his monitor screen. The refinery and processing facility was huge straddling the coast where they would have an ample supply of water both to make deuterium and to act as a coolant for the processes used when refining alsterene from its natural ore form into the extremely useful but highly flammable liquid form.

Some areas of the refinery including a large cluster of enormous cylindrical storage tanks were undamaged though the rest of the refinery especially around one of the processing areas was an absolute inferno. Flames leapt high into the sky while all around broken piping and pieces of equipment lay blackened and twisted distorted out of all recognition by the ferocious heat of the fire. Scott pulled up a thermal image on his screens, which showed the true intensity of the fire. It had been quite sometime since he had seen an industrial fire this ferocious and it was obvious that from the intensity it was feeding either off deuterium or alsterene or both that was leaking possibly from broken pipelines.

Scott switched the sensors back to normal view and noticed that a virtual fleet of fire appliances from Sydney had arrived at the scene of the blaze and the fire-fighters were doing there utmost with every weapon that they had to put the fire out. Scott flicked on his radio.

"International Rescue Thunderbird One to fire chief respond please," he said into the radio. "Repeat this is Thunderbird One to fire chief respond please." Almost instantly a response came.

"Thunderbird One this is Chief James," a voice with a very pronounced Australian accent said. "I can see you from here, mate are you a sight for sore eyes."

"What the situation," Scott asked immediately getting right down to business.

"We've been unable to bring the fire under control," Chief James replied. "Its being fed by ruptured feed lines from the alsterene refining plant to the main storage tanks. While that leeks still exists there is nothing we can do to get the fire out. Unfortunately we cannot get near the main valves to close them and stop the flow. The fire is particularly intense in that area."

"Is there any news of the trapped men," Scott asked.

"I have some good news for you there," Chief James replied. "We were able to fight our way to them and get them out but the main problem is the fire and its currently heading right for one of the deuterium tanks. At the rate the fires advancing we believe that it will reach the deuterium tank in just over an hour. We're doing everything we can to slow it down but to be honest while that leek is there it's a war we are loosing."

Scott grimaced at the report. While it was good news that they didn't have to worry about the trapped workers the news that the fire was spreading and feeding on leaking alsterene though that did explain the intensity of the flames. When it burned alsterene burned really hot. The news that the fire was almost to one of the deuterium tanks was bad, that tank once it caught would soon explode and could start a cascade reaction of explosions that would culminate in the detonation of the main tanks. Which would not only completely destroy the plant but half of Sydney. Not to mention it would cause a tsunami that would wreak untold havoc and destruction wherever it hit.

"I see," he replied at last. "I'll land and then we'll see what we can come up with to deal with this situation. I'll need some men to come and help me with my equipment if possible."

"You've got them mate," Chief James replied. Scott smiled even as he located the best place to land that was closest to the control centre the emergency services had set up. Within moments he had located the best place and with practised effortless ease he guided Thunderbird One over to that area and shifted the variable geometry wings into landing configuration and deployed the landing gear before engaging the VTOL jets.

With easy grace that somehow also signified her enormous power and advanced nature Thunderbird One slowly sunk down out of the sky. Thunderbird One landed with only the faintest of bumps that was a testament both to Scott's skill as a pilot and the precision engineering that had gone into her construction.

Scott powered down most of Thunderbird One's systems leaving only the camera detector and stealth systems online before flicking on the communications system again.

"International Rescue base and Thunderbird Two from Thunderbird One," he said. Immediately his communications screen lit up and displayed two separate images. One was the face of his father the other was Virgil's.

"Go ahead Scott," Jeff said.

"Go ahead Scott," Virgil echoed at the same time.

"I've arrived at the danger zone and it doesn't look good," Scott reported. "The fire is feeding on alsterene leaking from damaged pipelines and is heading right for one of the deuterium tanks. The fire department can't get anywhere near the valve controls to shut the flow of alsterene into the pipes off. The one piece of good news is that the fire department have been able to rescue the trapped workers on their own."

"That's something I suppose," Virgil replied. "That just leaves us with the fire to deal with before it gets to that deuterium tank."

"Any idea's Scott," Jeff asked.

"Not yet dad. I'll know more when I have mobile control up and running. Virgil what's your ETA?"

"I'll be there in about fifteen minutes Scott," Virgil replied.

"Do what you can to speed it up will you Virgil," Scott said. "At its present rate of advance we've only got an hour before the fire reaches that tank." Virgil's vidcom image frowned.

"That's not a lot of time," Virgil commented. "Alright Scott I'll try to get there quicker but I cannot promise anything."

"Understood just do your best Virgil."

"F.A.B," Virgil replied.

"Good luck boys," Jeff said from his side of the screen.

"Thanks dad we're going to need it," Scott replied. Jeff nodded and disappeared from the screen. Virgil vanished a moment later.

Scott sighed before undoing his seat restraints and stood up out of Thunderbird One's pilot's seat. Then he headed back to where he kept the two large metallic cases that when unfolded and locked together would be his mobile control station from which he could plan and monitor every aspect of the operation.

Scott retrieved the two cases and then headed for the entrance hatch. He had work to do and not a lot of time to get it done in.

**

* * *

Thunderbird Two **

A Few Minute Later

John sat nervously besides Gordon as Virgil brought Thunderbird Two in to land at the danger zone. John couldn't help but wonder why he was feeling nervous about the rescue mission this time. Though he hadn't been on as many rescue missions as his brothers he never usually felt like this.

"John are you alright," Gordon asked looking at his older brother in concern.

"I'm fine Gordon," John replied. "Just a little nervous that's all."

"Well that's understandable," Gordon replied. "This is the first time you've gone on a mission since those nanite things got inside you. Given you've got new abilities that none of us – yourself included – are aware of the full extent of its only natural that you'll be nervous."

John nodded realising that Gordon had hit the nail on the head so to speak and determined what was bothering him when he hadn't been able to do it himself. It was because of the nanites in his body that he was nervous, it was the lingering uncertainty about what exactly the nanites had done to him that was making him nervous. He knew they'd improved his senses as well as made him stronger and faster, but aside from his incredible speed they did not know yet the full extent of his enhancement.

"Your right," John said with a sigh.

"Try not to think about it," Gordon suggested just as with a soft bump Thunderbird Two landed. "Focus only on the task at hand, it won't bother you then."

"Gordon's right John," Virgil said from the pilot's seat even as he powered down the flight system save the stealth system. "Just focus on the fact that we have a job to do here and you'll probably find that your nerves about what the nanites have done to you will go away." A smile graced John's handsome face.

"Thanks guys," he said.

"No problem," Virgil replied. "Now what do you say we go and see Scott and see if he's come up with a plan of action."

"Yes lets," John agreed undoing his seat restraint and standing up. Gordon smiled even as he undid his own restraint and stood up. Finally Virgil did the same.

"Okay let's go and see what Scott has been able to come up with," Virgil said leading the way out of Thunderbird Two's control cabin towards the access to the outside world, it would only take a few minutes to get to mobile control as he had deliberately parked Thunderbird Two as close as he could to the command area while still giving them a straight run from the pod to the entrance of the refinery.

John and Gordon followed both of them hoping that Scott had come up with a plan to put the fire out quickly before the whole refinery blew up.

**

* * *

Mobile Control **

Scott frowned at the display on one of mobile controls monitor screens. The was studying an overview of the refinery determining what they needed to reach there ultimate goal of putting the fire out. He had already decided that there first task was to get to the main valves that controlled the flow of liquid alsterene through the pipes between the processing facility and the main storage tanks. If they could close the valves then the flow from smaller processing tanks in the processing plant to the main tanks would stop eliminating the leaks that was the fires primary source of fuel, the question was how to do that.

Scott was fully aware that they had the equipment to get to those valves what he needed to work out was the way to get to them. Debris and fire blocked the main road to that part of the refinery and while they had the means to get through it would take time. Time they couldn't really afford to waste, so he was trying to find another way into that area. But no matter how hard he looked he could not find any other way to get to the building that housed the valves.

Scott sighed in resignation. _Looks like we've got no choice in the matter,_ he thought, _we will just have to work as fast as we can on this one._

The sound of approaching footsteps caught his attention and Scott looked away from the monitor and looked in the direction that the footsteps were coming from, to see Virgil, Gordon and John coming his way from Thunderbird Two.

Scott was momentarily surprised to see that John was on the mission, he had expected that given what had happened to John with the nanites that dad would have kept him at home. Then he realised that dad had probably tried to keep John at home but that the quietest of the Tracy sons had argued otherwise and dad had given in. John could be very persuasive when he wanted to be Scott knew that very well.

He didn't have anymore time to think about it though as his brothers came within earshot or at least earshot for himself, Virgil and Gordon. John would almost certainly have been able to hear him ages ago had he spoken. Scott put aside that train of thought before he started thinking again about the nanites inside John as that was where that train of thought would inevitably lead. Scott forced himself back into full International Rescue mode putting the concerned and surprised older brother back in his box for now.

"Hey guys," he said in greeting. "I'm glad that you're here, we've got no time at all to waste on this one."

"We got here as quickly as we could Scott," Virgil replied. "Have you been able to come up with a plan?"

"Indeed I have," Scott replied. "Gather around and I'll brief you on just what we have to do." He smiled as Virgil, Gordon and John all gathered around him and took a deep breath before beginning to brief them on exactly what they needed to do to deal with this emergency. And save a large chunk of Sydney from otherwise certain destruction.


	14. Chapter 14: Trial By Fire Part Three

**Chapter Fourteen: Trial By Fire Part Three**

A Short Time Later

John sat down besides Gordon in the back of International Rescue's latest piece of fire fighting and rescue equipment, the Firebug as up front Virgil settled into the drivers seat. All three of them now wore thermal protection suits over their International Rescue uniforms though they had yet to put on the helmets. The thermal protection suites were an absolute necessity considering where it was they were going.

The plan that Scott had come up with was simple but extremely dangerous as it took them right into the heart of the inferno. Thermal images beamed down to Mobile Control by Alan up in Thunderbird Five showed that at the heart of the fire temperatures were extreme, so hot that steel was starting to buckle and in places melt. But it was into that hell that they were going to have to go if they were to shut down the flow of processed alsterene from the automated processing plant to the main storage tanks.

The Firebug – designed to be a companion machine to the Firefly – could take them there and between her dicetylene jets and her cannon she could clear away any fire or obstruction that blocked their path. But it was they themselves who would have to go into the building that housed the high pressure valves and close them and there was no guarantee what the inside of that building was going to be like aside from very, very hot.

"Everyone ready," Virgil asked his brothers.

"As ready as we'll ever be Virgil," John replied, noticing Gordon nodding in agreement with his words. "Let's get this done."

Virgil nodded and pressed the control that remotely opened the pod door to allow him to guide Firebug out of Thunderbird Two. Then he manipulated the radio controls and opened a communications channel to Mobile Control.

"Firebug to Mobile Control," he said into the microphone. Instantly Scott's face and torso appeared on one of the screens in front of Virgil.

"Go ahead Virgil," Scott said.

"We're ready to leave Thunderbird Two and enter the plant Scott," Virgil replied.

"F.A.B," Scott answered, "good luck."

"Thanks Scott we're going to need it." Scott nodded and broke the connection from his end and the screen changed back to a normal display screen.

Virgil took a deep breath then let it out slowly before starting the engine. This was Firebug's first time out in the field so he was understandably nervous about how she would perform in the unpredictable, constantly changing environment of the danger zone. Naturally they had run exhaustive tests on all of Firebugs systems and components, especially the new armour that protected her and her occupants from harm, still there was only so much they could do, so many conditions they could simulate.

A hum of power filled Firebug as the engines started tapping the microfusion power plant that drove Firebug. Smiling Virgil watched his displays as everything started up and gave exactly the readings they were supposed to give. Then he took hold of the wheel and disengaged the breaks before starting Firebug moving slowly out of the pod.

**

* * *

Mobile Control**

Chief James looked over Scott's shoulder at the portable control station that the man from International Rescue had set up. The equipment was incredibly sophisticated and he only understood a fraction of what the control station displays were showing them but the accuracy of the thermal images being shown was astounding. They showed the location of every single hotspot inside the refinery and showed what was getting dangerously hot.

Scott was allowing him to see the displays so he knew where to best direct his fire crews and the water drops from fire fighting aircraft that were assisting with tackling the blaze. Using these displays they had been able to slow the fires advance down, though they would not be able to stop it or put the fire out until the fire was deprived of its primary source of fuel from the automated alsterene processing facility. Once that supply was stopped putting the fire out would still be difficult but possible and not the impossible uphill battle that it had been until now.

The sound of a powerful engine caused him to turn his head towards Thunderbird Two. A machine completely unlike anything he had ever seen before was coming out of the pod that had been lowered from Thunderbird Two. It had been amazing to see that such a huge section of the massive machine was a detachable pod section the size of an aircraft hanger.

Chief James could see why so many people in the world were so desperate to get their hands on International Rescue's technology. This technology when used for any other purpose than for which whatever genius had come up with it had made it then it would be disastrous. So many people would abuse the power that was behind the Thunderbird machines, use it for war and destruction.

The machine that was just clearing Thunderbird Two's pod was quiet large and slung quite low to the ground, running on powerful tracks that ran along the length of the machine. The sides were steeply sloping and all around them were what looked almost like miniature gun turrets. The machine advanced forward towards the plant entrance with easy grace and power that belied its somewhat bizarre, low slung appearance.

"What is that thing," Chief James exclaimed observing the machine.

"She's called Firebug," Scott replied not taking his eyes off his displays. "She's going to be the means by which we get to those valves and deprive the fire of its main source of fuel."

"How," James wanted to know, "go through the inferno it will burn up."

"It's okay. Firebug is made of an alloy that's completely impervious to heat. Between that, the cooling systems and the dicetylene sprays Firebug and her crew will be completely fine."

"What's dicetylene?" Scott looked away from his displays to look at Chief James with a small, mysterious smile.

"You'll see soon enough," Scott replied.

Chief James considered asking again but knew that he would probably not get an answer out of the man from International Rescue. So he would just have to wait to see whatever this dicetylene was.

**

* * *

Firebug**

With easy skill Virgil guided Firebug into the huge Transcontinental Chemicals plant heading right for the inferno that was slowly but surely consuming the huge facility. The engines humming with power they made quick progress towards the fire front.

"Heat increasing Virgil," Gordon reported as he looked at an external temperature gage that showed the horrendous heat building up outside.

"Right," Virgil replied as Firebug began to penetrate the initial flames licking ahead of the main fire. "Activating dicetylene jets." As he spoke he pressed a level forward until he heard a soft click.

On the outside guided by extremely accurate thermal sensors the small turrets on the outside of Firebug rotated and locked onto the greatest sources of heat and activated sending forth blasts of white dicetylene mist. The moment the dicetylene touched the flames they went out snuffed out and did not ignite again.

Firebug advanced into the inferno and the dicetylene jets switched from firing bursts to firing constant streams of white dicetylene. The dicetylene played over the raging flames instantly snuffing them out clearing a path through the fire as it advanced deeper and deeper into the inferno towards the building that housed the valves for the alsterene transport pipes.

**

* * *

Mobile Control**

Observing Firebug's progress on one of the screens Chief James was amazed. The dicetylene that Firebug was firing was simply snuffing out the fire wherever it touched it. He had never seen anything like this before.

"This dicetylene is amazing," Chief James said in awe.

"Thank you," Scott replied.

"How do you make it," James asked.

"Classified I'm afraid," Scott replied.

"I understand. I just wish you could make this stuff generally available it would save so many lives."

"Believe it or not we are looking into doing just that," Scott answered with a smile knowing that in a few months dad would be starting to filter dicetylene out through one of the many companies in his corporate empire, or through another company altogether. They had already done the same thing with the tranquillising agent they used in their personal sidearms; it was now used by police and security forces the world over in law enforcement and riot control.

"Great if you do that it would help a lot."

"It's what we're here for," Scott replied. Chief James looked at the displays again.

"Looks like your friends are about to hit a block," he said.

Scott looked at the display screen in question and noticed what Chief James had. A large mass of pipes and girders had collapsed and were now lying across the road through the plant blocking Firebug's path, or so it seemed, Scott however knew that it was not an obstacle.

"Don't worry about it," Scott replied. "That debris is not going to be an obstacle for very long. It won't even slow Firebug down."

**

* * *

Firebug**

Virgil paid close attention to his display screens as he guided Firebug through the plant following the route to the building where the valves were located. Like Chief James and Scott he noticed the obstruction ahead. Virgil resisted the impulse to shake his head, like with the Firefly, Firebug would not be slowed down by the fallen, burning debris.

Virgil brought Firebug to a dead halt and armed the cannon. At the front of the Firebug a section of armour abruptly split apart revealing itself to be a hatch. From inside the hatch the maw of a cannon appeared. Targeting graphics appeared on Virgil's displays and with experienced hands he aimed the cannon and once satisfied pulled the trigger. A dull rumble filled the Firebug for a moment as the cannon fired a single high-explosive shell at the obstruction.

The shell impacted the debris and detonated the explosion shredding and scattering the debris and the concussion wave was so powerful it blew out every flame in the immediate vicinity.

Virgil waited a moment for the dust and smoke to clear then smiled when he saw that the obstruction was gone completely shattered and no longer an obstacle. He closed the cannon port and started Firebug moving again.

"How much further to we have to go Virgil," Gordon asked.

"Not much further Gordon," Virgil replied. "Another fifty-five meters that's all. You two had better get the last of your gear on."

"F.A.B Virgil," John replied standing up from his seat and going to a rack where their helmets, gloves and thermal insulated breather packs were located. Gordon also stood up and went to a cupboard where they kept tools as well as portable dicetylene extinguishers.

From the cupboard Gordon took out three sets of tools and three sets of dicetylene extinguishers, though he wasn't sure if the dicetylene extinguishers would be much good given the sheer intensity of the fire. Hopefully the valve room would be free of fire but if it weren't then as long as it wasn't completely engulfed in flame then extinguishers might be of assistance. John for his part took three sets of helmets and breather units from the rack and checked that they were in full working order.

"Gordon come over here please," he said to his younger brother.

Gordon – having finished getting the equipment out – came over already knowing why John had called him over. He held his arms out to the side and held himself perfectly still as John carefully slipped the breather pack on him and secured it in place.

"That comfortable?" John asked.

"Yes it's okay," Gordon replied as he lowered his arms to his side. "Now let me put one on you." John nodded and moved aside so Gordon could get at the breather units, then he mimicked what Gordon had done, held himself motionless with his arms out to his sides. As he had done Gordon slipped the breather unit on him and secured it in place.

"Comfortable?" Gordon asked.

"Yes," John replied as a jolt ran through the deck beneath them as Virgil brought Firebug to a stop and turned the engines to stand by mode.

Virgil stood up from the driver's seat and headed back to join them. Without speaking he stood motionless and like John and Gordon before him held his arms out to the side. Picking up a breather pack John slipped it on Virgil and secured it.

"Its comfortable," Virgil said before John could ask if it was comfortable.

"Ok helmets and gloves now," Gordon said picking up the three helmets and handing one each to Virgil and John.

Carefully John slipped his helmet on and secured it before reaching behind him and making the connection between the helmet and the breather pack. Automatically the breather pack came on ready to provide oxygen to the helmet as soon as the silvered visor was closed and locked. Looking up he saw that Virgil and Gordon also had their helmets on but the visors were still open. Without speaking he picked up the gloves and handed them around before starting to put them on himself.

The fabric inside the gloves felt odd to John as he put it on but then he hadn't really worn a thermal protection suit before having only been on about thirty earth-side rescues as opposed to most of his brothers. The closest he had ever come to putting something like this on was the hazmat suit that he'd worn when _Ocean Pioneer II_ had unknowingly sailed into an area of the Mediterranean where a huge amount of OD60 was growing, putting the ships three crew in terrible danger, as the devastating reaction of alsterene to OD60 began taking place in the ships cargo hold. Plus there were the odd times when he'd had to put on a spacesuit on a space rescue or when EVA work was required on the exterior of Thunderbird Five. So he had little experience putting on a thermal protection suit, but the way the fabric inside the glove seemed to mould itself to his hand felt downright weird.

As soon as the gloves were on John secured them at the wrists where they met with a locking ring at the end of the arms of the suit. Twisting the ring made a firm seal, then he flexed his fingers making a fist for a moment and found he could feel normally through the gloves.

"Problem John," Virgil asked.

"No problem Virg," John replied. "Just the gloves on these suits feel a little weird that's all."

"That's understandable," Gordon said. "Brains only came up with the fabric in the things two months ago, you've never worn them before, so its bound to feel a bit strange the first time."

"True," John agreed.

"Well if there is no problem lets do this shall we," Virgil said.

"F.A.B Virgil," Gordon and John said in unison. Virgil chuckled.

"Let me just inform Scott that we're moving out," he said. "Then we can go and get this done." John and Gordon both nodded and went to pick up their tools and the dicetylene extinguishers while Virgil returned to the drivers seat to use the radio.

Reaching the driver's seat Virgil reached over and manipulated the controls on the comm system.

"Firebug to Mobile Control. Come in Scott," he said.

"Go ahead Virgil," Scott's voice responded immediately.

"We're in position Scott and are just about to start out," Virgil reported he knew that Scott already knew they were in position, but the protocols that had been laid down when International Rescue was being planned had to be followed. One of the protocols was to always inform whoever was running Mobile Control as to what was happening or what you were about to do.

"F.A.B Virgil. Good luck."

"Thanks Scott," Virgil replied and signed off and pressed the controls that would now route all of the communications from Firebug to there helmet radios. That done he made his way back to Gordon and John who were gathered at the airlock that connected to the outside world. On the way he picked up an extinguisher and tool kit for himself.

"Ready Virg," John asked as Virgil joined them.

"Yes," Virgil replied. "Lets go."

John nodded and closed and sealed his helmet visor. The moment the seal was complete John was startled when a holographic heads up display appeared on the inside of the visor showing everything from wind direction, to temperature both on the outside and inside of the suit. After a moment John got used to it, spacesuits had the same technology after all but he had never seen it on a suit meant to be used earth-side before. Though it was logical to include it on a thermal protection suit as in many ways a thermal protection suit was like a spacesuit.

"Communications check," Virgil said over their helmet radios. "Can you hear me John, Gordon?"

"Yes Virg I can hear you," John replied.

"I can hear you both Virgil, John," Gordon added.

"Okay everything's working. Lets go we've got a fire to deprive of its lifeblood."

"F.A.B," John and Gordon said in unison. Without further conversation all three of them entered Firebug's airlock.


	15. Chapter 15: Trial By Fire Part Four

**Chapter Fifteen: Trial By Fire Part Four**

Mobile Control

As soon as Virgil broke off the communication with him Scott checked his displays again to check on the progress of the fire. Things were not looking good, the fire refused to stay confined and was still slowly spreading despite the best efforts of the Sydney Fire Department to contain it. The fire was almost to one of the smaller deuterium tanks, air drops of water and bombardment from fire tenders was being focused on that area. Everyone knew that if the fire reached the deuterium tank then it was all over.

Scott frowned at the worsening situation but then turned his attention to the monitor that showed Firebugs position beside to concrete building that housed the valves. It was a smaller building next to the huge concrete silos that were in fact the alsterene processing facility. _There has to be away for me to help them in there,_ he thought then an idea dawned on him and he mentally berated himself for not thinking about it before.

"Mobile Control to Thunderbird Five," Scott said into his radio. "Mobile Control to Thunderbird Five please respond." Instantly Alan's face flashed up on his communications screen.

"Go ahead Scott," Alan said.

"Alan I need to know can you use Thunderbird Five's sensors to probe the interior of the pump house where the valves for the alsterene pipes are located," Scott asked. Alan blinked.

"I'm not sure Scott," Alan admitted. "I'm almost over the horizon now and I don't know if the sensors would penetrate the reinforced concrete of the roof from this position. But I'll certainly give it a go."

"Thanks Alan."

"No problem Scott." Immediately from the speaker grill there came the sound of typing on computer keys as high above Scott's head Alan manipulated Thunderbird Five's sensor controls.

Scott waited patiently while his youngest brother worked, mentally crossing his fingers that Alan would be able to scan the interior of the pump house given that as he had said Thunderbird Five was almost over the horizon from Sydney. Had Thunderbird Five still been directly overhead Scott knew that Alan would have had little trouble doing as he asked, but now they had Thunderbird Five's orbital path to contend with.

After a few moments of anxious waiting Alan came back to him.

"Scott I have been able to do what you asked," Alan said. "But only just. I'm sending you the information that I've been able to gather, but I won't be able to run another scan as I'm already crossing the horizon."

"Understood Alan," Scott replied as a light appeared on one of his panels indicating a download from Thunderbird Five was in progress. After a moment the download completed. "Download complete."

"F.A.B Scott," Alan replied. "Good luck with the fire."

"Thanks Alan though its Virgil, Gordon and John who need the most luck."

"True. Fill me in later on what happens will you," Alan replied.

"Sure."

"Thanks Scott."

"No problem." Alan smiled at him then broke the connection from his end and his baby brother's face vanished from the screen.

With a quick command Scott brought the data he had just received up on one of his screens and carefully examined it. Thunderbird Five's powerful scanners had been able to penetrate the reinforced concrete walls and ceiling of the pump room, just as Scott thought they would and get a semi-detailed scan of the interior. It wasn't perfect, as it would normally be, but it was still very accurate given that it had been taken from an awkward angle.

Using the scan results Scott was able to trace the pipes coming in and out of the facility to three main points where the valves would be located. The thermal image showed that it was unsurprisingly extremely hot inside the building but there were only a few scattered spots of extreme heat that indicated the presence of very localised fires. Scott sighed in relief knowing that was going to make his brothers jobs easier, now he just had to share this information with them.

"Mobile Control to Firebug," he said into the radio knowing that Virgil would have activated the diversion system to the helmet radios of the thermal protection suits.

"Go ahead Scott," John's voice responded immediately.

"Alan's been able to scan the interior of the pump house your heading for," Scott replied. "I'm relaying all relevant data to the three of you now."

"F.A.B Scott thanks," John said.

"No problem," Scott replied.

**

* * *

Outside Firebug**

John studied the scan information as it appeared on his visor display screen just as along with Virgil and Gordon he stepped out of Firebug. While it was a bit hazy on exact details it was still a good quality scan which was surprising considering it was on the edge of Thunderbird Five's scanner range. Since he spent six months of the year up there he like Alan knew Thunderbird Five's orbit like the back of his hand, he knew she would have been just slipping over the curve of the horizon when the scan was run.

"Okay now we know what it's like in there," Virgil said nodding at the door to the pump house. The fire that had been clawing at the door and managed to trip its release mechanism opening it had been extinguished when Firebugs dicetylene jets had played over the front of the building.

"Yeah that helps a lot," Gordon replied. "I'm surprised though by how accurate the scan is. Correct me if I'm wrong John but wouldn't Thunderbird Five been almost out of range when the scan was taken."

"Correct Gordon," John answered. "The upgrades to the sensors Brains did three months ago are obviously paying off. Okay looking at this the junction points where the valves would be located are on three different levels of the room."

"Yes I noticed," Virgil replied. "John you take the one on the upper level, while I take the one on the middle level and Gordon takes the lower."

"F.A.B," John and Gordon replied in unison before they started moving away from the protection of the Firebug to the side of the building.

It was only a short distance but making the crossing John couldn't help but feel extremely vulnerable, small and fragile. Practically all around them there was nothing but roaring flames and the only thing keeping the fire back was the computer-controlled bursts of dicetylene from Firebugs turrets. Intellectually John knew that the thermal protection suits would protect them even if the dicetylene blasts were to stop, but it didn't stop the primal, instinctual fear of the inferno blazing around them.

In moments they were inside the building. Powerful halogen lamps built into the helmets came on as the helmet sensors registered that it was dark, with the only light in the room coming from the faint orange glow of the handful of small fires that were burning here and there in the room.

For a moment the three of them stood in place carefully sweeping the room with the powerful beams of the helmet lights, getting their bearings. The room itself was large but was a virtual serpents nest of machinery, gantries and pipes that ranged from small ones that were as thick as a mans arm to giant pipes that were as thick as John was tall and everything in between. There were only three of those thick ones all of them on the north wall which faced the automated alsterene processing facility next door. They were the main feeder pipes from the three huge processing units each one carrying millions of gallons of processed alsterene from the processors.

Branching off from each feeder pipe were three smaller pipes that themselves were massive, these pipes made their way to three huge pumps before splitting off into a dozen smaller pipes that snaked in various directions to the south and west walls. In front of each still softly humming pump was a block terminal into, which were set the valve controls along with pressure gages.

A central gantry ran down the centre of the room and led right up to the first pump. Smaller gantries branched off from there and led to sets of steps that led up and down to the other two pumps.

"Let's go," Virgil said starting forward heading down the gantry to the central pump station. John and Gordon followed and when they reached the central pump went in different directions with John going to the upper level pump station, while Gordon went down to the lower level pump.

"Virgil to Mobile Control," Virgil said into his helmet radio.

"Go ahead Virgil," Scott replied.

"Scott is there any specific sequence in which these valves have to be closed," Virgil asked.

"Stand by," Scott replied.

**

* * *

Mobile Control**

Scott looked over at the plant engineer who had been called over to Mobile Control by Chief James when Firebug had reached the pump house.

"Do they?" Scott asked the engineer.

"Yes," the engineer replied. "The valves have to closed in a linear left to right pattern otherwise there will be a pressure built up and with the pipes damaged elsewhere we can't afford that. All three pump stations can be worked on simultaneously there is no specific pattern for them. Once all three valves are closed the pumps will automatically power down and the flow of alsterene down the pipes will stop." Scott nodded and turned back to his radio.

"Virgil, Gordon, John I've just spoken to one of the plant engineers he's informed me that the valves need to be closed in a linear left to right pattern, other than that there is no specific pattern."

"F.A.B Scott," Virgil said.

"F.A.B Scott," Gordon echoed a moment later followed by John.

**

* * *

Pump Room**

At the upper pump station John took a deep breath and moved over to the far-left valve control. The valve controls were large wheels as opposed to levels and an inscription on the top surface showed that you had to turn them anti-clockwise to close.

John put his tool kit down and grabbed the wheel before starting to turn the wheel anti-clockwise after a moment's resistance the wheel began to turn. John turned the wheel several times before the wheel wouldn't turn anymore, as he reached that point there was a soft click and on the pressure gage directly above the wheel he saw the pressure in the pipe drop to zero as the valve closed stopping the flow in that pipe. As it did so his enhanced hearing picked up a change in the pitch of the pumps humming, it had dropped as one of the three impellers in the pump shut down.

John moved on to the central valve and repeated the process without a hitch though he did notice that there was slightly more resistance with the second valve. But after a moment it to click closed and the pitch of the pump dropped some more. _This is easy,_ John thought moving over to the right hand side valve. Putting his hands on the wheel he tried to repeat the process to find the valve didn't move. Putting more effort into it he tried to move the wheel again. Again nothing happened. Silently cursing every bad word that he knew John tried again.

This time as he tried to turn the valve he felt the same internal power surge as he had felt back on the island when they had been seeing how fast he could run. Suddenly the stubborn wheel turned with effortless ease as John's nanite enhanced muscles overpowered whatever it was that had been preventing the valve from closing. In an instant he heard the valve click closed and the humming of the pump dropped and became a downscaling whine as the pump powered down.

"Pump number one shut down," John said into his helmet radio still feeling his muscles throbbing with the superhuman power the nanites gave him.

"Pump number two shut down," Virgil added a moment later, "boy those things were stubborn." John blinked even as he felt the internal power surge fade back down to normal. Aside from the third and final valve he hadn't found his three valves that difficult to close. Had he been tapping the power of the nanites in his muscles even then?

"Guys I've got a problem here," Gordon's voice abruptly said over the radio. "I've been able to close the first valve on this bank. But the second won't move."

"Okay Gordon we'll be right there," Virgil replied.

John picked up his toolkit and extinguisher though he knew now that he wouldn't need them and hurried back down to the main level. He could see Virgil moving down to the lower level to assist Gordon and he followed.

As he arrived he saw Gordon desperately trying to close the second valve. Virgil leaned in and lent his strength to the effort, but still the valve refused to move.

"Shit it must be jammed," Virgil said.

"Language," John replied. "Let me try guys."

Gordon and Virgil looked at each other and then stood aside allowing John to step in and grab the valve. They both knew that thanks to the nanites John was stronger than the two of them put together and then some.

Grabbing the wheel John tried to turn it but it wouldn't move. Closing his eyes for a moment he concentrated trying to figure out how he could consciously tap the power of the nanites that were fused with his body, rather than subconsciously tap their power as he had done the last few times. After a few goes he imagined a dial labelled strength and mentally turned it up.

Instantly he felt the internal power surge again and felt his muscles once more throb with superhuman power. Smiling behind his visor he tried to turn the valve again, and it turned easily in his hands. After a moment it clicked closed and the pump's whine changed pitch. John quickly moved to the third valve and closed it with exactly the same ease as he had the last valve. It clicked closed and with a downscaling whine the final pump shut down.

Then John closed his eyes again and imagined the strength dial again and he turned it back down to normal and felt the power surge fade away back to normal. He opened his eyes again.

Virgil and Gordon stared at John in awe for a moment, both realising that the strength and power they had just seen John display closing the valves was due to the nanites. They realised that because of them John was incredibly, incredibly strong, just like he was incredibly fast. Gordon made a mental note to stay in John's good books, as he didn't want to imagine what John could do with that strength if enraged.

"Virgil to Mobile Control," Virgil said at last into his helmet radio. "All pumps shut down."

"F.A.B," Scott replied. "Well done guys. We can already see the effect. The fire has stopped advancing now that no more alsterene is leaking out. Return to Firebug and use all the dicetylene you have left to put out as much of the fire as you can."

"F.A.B," Virgil replied for all of them. "You heard him let's go. We've deprived the fire of its main source of fuel. Now lets put the rest of it out."

"F.A.B," Gordon said.

"F.A.B," John echoed a moment later.

In silence the three of them made their way back up to the main level and then headed back to Firebug.

**

* * *

Firebug**

A Few Minutes Later

John collapsed into one of the rear chairs with a soft whumph, though strangely he didn't feel tired at all.

"That was amazing in their John," Gordon said as he to sat down.

"You're telling me Gordon," John replied. "I can't believe I was able to do that. But two things have come of it."

"Oh?" Virgil asked.

"Yeah. One we've stopped the flow of alsterene to the fire. Two I've got more of an idea how to control my powers now," John said.

"True and that can only be a good thing," Virgil agreed. "Now then you two straps yourselves in. Then we'll finish this mission."

"F.A.B," John and Gordon replied in unison.


	16. Chapter 16: Homeward Bound

**Enhanced**

**Chapter Sixteen: Homeward Bound**

**Eight Hours Later**

John Tracy sighed in relief as he leaned back against the wall of Thunderbird Two's pod, watching as Virgil and Gordon secured Firebug back in place, besides the Firefly and the other fire rescue equipment. The fire in the refinery was out, it had been a long hard battle even after shutting down the alsterene flow, but they'd managed it. A short time ago the last of the flames had been extinguished and air tankers and fire trucks were dampening down the few hotspots that remained. The danger of Sydney being wiped off the face of the earth by a fusion blast from exploding deuterium and alsterene had passed.

John was glad that the job was finally done, as it meant that they could now go back home. Home to what he knew would be showers and a large, well deserved meal that Kyrano will have cooked for them, since Grandma was still away in the U.S. Looking at his brothers more closely John unwittingly enhanced his vision slightly so he could see them better. He could see the physical and mental exhaustion in the way Gordon and Virgil were holding themselves. This mission had been very taxing, stressing their physical and mental reserves to the limit, so it was only natural that they were tired. John knew that he was, but there was more to his feeling of exhaustion than to what his brothers would be feeling. Not only was he tired but he felt weak, really weak, drained almost of all energy, he felt so weak and exhausted that he didn't know how he was managing to stand up. And he knew what it was.

It was the nanites, he could tell from the way that his altered, enhanced body was feeling that they were starting to run dangerously low on energy. _Makes sense,_ he thought like his brothers he'd been a high adrenaline charged state all the way through the rescue. They always were, since they'd started International Rescue they'd all become adrenaline junkies to a degree. _At least those of us who weren't before,_ John thought thinking about Gordon and Alan especially. The nanites would have reacted to the increased adrenaline levels in his body and kept him permanently in a state where he could easily access and use there powers. And that probably cost especially since he got the impression that when he used things like his now superhuman strength, nanite power requirements spiked way above whatever the norm was for the things.

Feeling the exhaustion getting slightly worse John closed his eyes and took a couple of deep breaths, fighting against the impulse to go to sleep. The impulse wasn't very strong at the moment, but it would get worse, he knew it would. Eventually he wouldn't be able to resist it and would fall into a very deep and dangerous sleep, as the nanites would go into a last ditch survival mode, conserving what little energy they had left. It was nowhere near that bad yet thankfully, though the feeling was very distracting, especially as with the exhaustion there was a feeling of growing hunger. He was so distracted by the feelings inside of him that even his unnaturally good hearing didn't detect the sound of approaching footsteps.

"John are you all right?" Virgil asked concerned and John opened his eyes again to look at him and inwardly Virgil shivered. He could see in John's expressive blue eyes – another trait that he shared with Alan along with their blond hair – that John was tired and hungry. More than he should have been even after such a difficult mission as this one had been. Looking closely he could see it in John's soot-smudged features as well.

"Not really Virg," John replied and was surprised to find that his voice was starting to sound a bit weaker, not as weak as it had sounded yesterday when the nanites had first run dangerously low on power, but it was not a good sign. Virgil frowned in concern.

"The nanites," Virgil said softly. John nodded.

"Yeah," he answered. "They're very low on power, I know it, I can feel it." Virgil nodded though he didn't understand what John meant when he said that he could feel that the nanites were low on power. How could he? He didn't have those incredible little machines inside him.

"Maybe you should eat one or two of the ration bars from the emergency survival packs," Virgil suggested. "They should provide the nanites with enough energy to keep working properly until we get back home and we can all eat a proper meal, after we've had showers of course."

John made a face at the thought of eating one or two of the ration bars from the survival packs, they were not the best tasting things in the world. But they were designed to deliver nutrients to the body quickly; taste was at best a secondary concern. Virgil was right though, if anything could keep the nanites ticking over then the ration bars would be it. Virgil laughed when he saw the look on John's face at the thought of eating ration bars.

"I know they're not the best tasting things in the world," Virgil replied still chuckling. "But that's not important at the moment is it."

"True Virg," John agreed his voice slightly weaker than before.

Gently, so as not to inadvertently cause damage, John pushed himself away from the wall of the pod, only to stumble back against it as a wave of dizziness rippled through his head. John closed his eyes again and took a few deep breaths as the dizziness faded away. The dizzy spell was not as bad as the one he'd had yesterday; still he read the warning for what it was. The nanites energy needs were starting to become critical, they weren't there yet but they were dangerously close. He needed to eat something, and he needed to do it now. John opened his eyes again in time to see Gordon disappearing out of the pod, heading up to the gantry that connected the pod to the rest of Thunderbird Two's crew areas. Virgil was still standing in front of him, looking at him in very real concern.

"Gordon's gone to get you some ration bars," Virgil explained. "No offence John but you don't look like you'd be able to make it to the sleeping area let alone the control room without falling over."

"None taken Virgil," John replied feeling the weakness and hunger getting a little bit worse. "You're probably right. There has to be something that we can do about these things in me. Someway we can come up with something that will give a warning when they're starting to run low on power. I don't fancy going through this everytime the damned things come close to running on empty."

"I don't blame you," Virgil answered with an understanding smile. "I would hate it as well. We will have to speak to Brains; he's been studying the information Alan retrieved for us on the nanites. I'm sure he could come up with something to monitor them."

"I hope so Virg," John replied smiling weakly. _If anyone can figure out away to help me then it will be Brains,_ he thought right before another wave of dizziness rippled through his head. _I hope he can because this feeling is awful._

* * *

After a few more moments Gordon returned. His soot-covered face visibly flushed, with small beads of sweat on his forehead, in his hand he held three wrapped up ration bars, which he'd obviously grabbed straight out of the survival pack. John realised that Gordon had run all the way to the crew areas and back again.

"Here you go John," Gordon said offering John the bars.

"Thanks Gordon," John replied accepting the bars off his younger brother. He ripped open the foil cover on the first one and started eating it, barely even noticing the taste in his haste to get something resembling food into him.

Virgil and Gordon watched with a mixture of amazement and faint disgust as John simply tore through the ration bars. By the time he had finished the third bar his colour was starting to improve and while he still looked tired he didn't look to be as tired as he had been a few minutes ago.

"Better John," Virgil asked.

"A bit Virgil," John replied his voice sounding normal once again as the exhaustion and weakness faded away a bit, it didn't completely go away but it was no longer threatening to overwhelm him, to pull him into a deep, dark place from which he might never return. "It will probably be awhile before I feel the full effects of eating those foul tasting things."

"Probably," Gordon agreed.

"You feel up to moving John," Virgil asked. "You can bet Scott's wondering why we aren't moving yet. Knowing Scott it won't be long before he comes beating down the door to see if we're all alright." Gordon and John both laughed but knowing the truth in those words. When it came to his siblings their older brother was very, very overprotective. If he believed or even suspected that they were in danger or that they needed him Scott would move heaven and earth to get to them and that there was little if anything in the world that could stop him.

"I think I can managed Virgil," John said. "Don't ask me to run a marathon but I think I can make it to the control room." Virgil chuckled. John's sense of humour was still intact obviously.

"Let's go then," he said and turned and started to walk away. John pushed himself away from the wall of the pod and followed him Gordon brought up the rear. Without speaking they headed for Thunderbird Two's control deck, all of them more than ready to begin the journey home.

**

* * *

Thunderbird One**

Scott frowned as he looked out his view port over at Thunderbird Two. _What the hell is going on over there,_ he thought. He had tried to call Thunderbird Two twice in the last five minutes; there had been no answer. Concern growing Scott was about to contact Thunderbird Five to see if Alan could get through to Thunderbird Two when his radio crackled to life.

"Thunderbird Two to Thunderbird One," Virgil's voice crackled over the radio. Scott sighed in relief and accepted the signal and Virgil's face appeared on his communications screen.

"Reading you loud and clear Virgil," Scott answered. "Did you have a problem securing Firebug Virgil? I've tried to call you twice in the last five minutes and you didn't answer."

"That would be my fault Scott sorry," John said appearing in range of the video pickup. Scott frowned in concern.

"Are you alright John?" he asked.

"I'm alright Scott. Just a little nanite trouble."

"Running low on energy," Scott guessed still frowning. John nodded.

"Don't worry though Scott we've taken some action to relieve the situation," John said reassuringly. "I've eaten three emergency ration bars. Horrid tasting things." Scott chuckled. He knew what emergency ration bars tasted like they were foul. He remembered that from the survival course he had had to go on back when he had still been with the US airforce.

"I won't argue with that," he replied. "I remember what the infernal things taste like. Are you sure you're alright?"

"I'll be fine till we get back to base," John answered. "I can eat properly when we get home."

"Are you sure you'll be alright?"

"I'll be fine Scott stop worrying." Scott sighed. _Stop worrying he says,_ Scott thought, _I can't stop worrying about you John. I'm your older brother. It's my job to worry about you._

"Are we just going to sit here chatting or are we going to get moving," Virgil asked breaking up the conversation before it could go any further.

"You're right Virgil," Scott said. "Our mission is over. We should return to base. We can continue this discussion when we get home."

"F.A.B Scott," Virgil replied and broke the connection from his end.

Scott looked at the blank communications screen for a few moments. Then he sighed. He couldn't stop worrying about John, especially not now that he had those nanites inside him. That technology and how it had altered John's body exactly were unknowns, potentially dangerous unknowns. That made him worry for John's sake and there own. Until they really knew what the nanites had done to John altogether he would continue to worry, even more than he normally did.

After a moment Scott sighed once again, before engaging the VTOL jets and getting Thunderbird One airborne. Scott kept his eyes on his display screens until he was at a safe height, then he shifted the wings into flight/cruise configuration and engaged the main drives and got Thunderbird One into motion heading for home.

**

* * *

Thunderbird Two**

John watched through the front view ports as Thunderbird One lifted off the ground. For a moment the rocket powered plane hung there in the air as the landing gear was retracted and the wings shifted into flight configuration. Then her main engines came on and she disappeared, heading away into the distance at high speed.

John quietly sighed to himself and went and sat down next to Gordon in the passenger seats. _I do wish Scott wouldn't worry about me so much,_ he thought but he knew that Scott had good reason to be worried at the moment. He knew Scott would continue to worry until they knew altogether what the nanites had done to him, though knowing Scott he probably wouldn't stop worrying even then. His overprotective big brother complex coming into play again.

"You two ready to go home," Virgil asked from his place in the pilot seat.

"We're ready Virgil," Gordon answered.

"Yes Virg," John added leaning back comfortably in his seat. "Let's go home." Virgil glanced back at them and grinned before turning his attention back to his controls.

After a moment a roar of sound filled the control deck, as Thunderbird Two's four powerful VTOL jets fired lifting the mighty green machine up into the air. Virgil scanned his instruments, making sure that everything was normal, especially checking that the docking clamps had locked onto the pod correctly and were holding it securely, making it a complete part of the fuselage. Happy that everything was okay Virgil cut out the VTOL jets and brought the main drive online. Thunderbird Two began moving away from Sydney, heading away across the horizon, following Thunderbird One's homeward bound course.

* * *

Chief James looked up from where he had been about to climb into one of the fire trucks at the sound of engines. He was just in time to see first Thunderbird One then a short time later Thunderbird Two lift off the ground and move away from the blackened and twisted remains of the refinery. Vanishing off into the distance, returning to wherever it was they and their mysterious organisation appeared from like magic whenever somebody in the world needed them.

A soft smile appeared on his tired, soot covered features. _Thank you,_ he thought to the retreating Thunderbirds, _thank you for all your help saving our city._

"Chief," one of his firemen prompted from behind him.

"Right sorry," James said before resuming climbing back up into the truck.

"They are impressive aren't they," the fireman said as he climbed aboard behind him. "I'm glad that they are out there somewhere and they will always come to help."

"Yes they are. And you're not on your own. I wish I knew where they came from."

"You and everybody else in the world."

"True, very true. No one knows where they come from, but thank god that whenever they are needed they come."


	17. Chapter 17: Adaptations

**Chapter Seventeen: Adaptations**

**Brains Lab**

**One Week Later**

Brains smiled as he put the finishing touches to the device that he had been working on for the last week. After the boys had returned from the fire at that refinery that had threatened Sydney with destruction it had been obvious that they needed something, something to monitor John's nanites. At very least until they could figure out away to get them out of him without killing him in the process, which could be along time.

He had been studying the data that Alan had recovered on the nanites for them. The technology was extremely complex and while he was beginning to understand the principles, it would be along time before he was comfortable enough to begin experimenting to see what he could do with it. Until then they would have to make adjustments to cope with the nanites being inside John and what they had done to his body. Brains had been thinking about the way John would get tired and low on energy and how his body behaved when it did happen, it had sparked an idea that he had begun testing out while they continued doing tests to determine the strength and limits of John's abilities.

One of the things he had soon discovered was that when the nanites ran low on power John's blood sugar level dropped dramatically. Which explained why John felt so lousy when it happened, the effect was almost like diabetes in that regard. But other things changed as well, blood pressure for one shot up and the levels of the bio-polymer residue that the nanites seemed to produce as part of the metabolic process of there organic components, dropped dramatically. Brains had had to come up with something that could monitor all these levels and sound or display a warning when they began approaching danger levels, by the time John started feeling the effects it could always be to late.

The solution had been simple but executing that solution had been the difficult bit. Brains had come up with a new wristcom for John that would monitor everything and still perform its normal job of watch/communications device. That had been the difficult bit, even with modern microelectronics, the wristcoms were complex electronic devices packed with micro circuitry not to mention a heavily miniaturised but extremely powerful battery. To make a new wristcom for John had required him to go right back to the drawing board and design it from scratch.

Brains had actually enjoyed the challenge as it had forced him to think and design in away that he hadn't had to do since they were first designing the Thunderbirds. Though this had been somewhat different, the Thunderbirds were after all macro-engineering not micro-engineering like with the wristcoms. Brains picked up the wristcom and examined it, the display screen was lit up and displaying the normal digital time display, John preferred digital watches to the analogue clock ones that his brothers wore. Brains wasn't sure why that was, but guessed it was more a personal preference than anything else and it had been easy enough to accommodate.

Satisfied that everything was fine with the new wristcom Brains smiled and put it down. Before reaching out and pressing the intercom control on his workbench.

"Mr Tracy," he said.

"Yes Brains," Jeff Tracy answered immediately.

"C…c…can you please s…s…send John down to my lab please Mr Tracy."

"You have something Brains?"

"Y…y…yes Mr Tracy I do," Brains replied.

"I will send John down as soon as possible Brains."

"Okay Mr Tracy." Brains signed off and turned to his computer and pulled up the data on the sensor that Alan had recovered with the data on the nanites.

While he waited for John to arrive he might as well see how he could adapt it for there use, he'd already come up with adjustments to there existing stealth technology to counter the sensors ability to scan them now he wanted to see how they could use it themselves. Alan was right the sensor had some pretty impressive capabilities, capabilities that he could improve upon for their use. It was just a matter of figuring out how to do it.

**

* * *

Sundeck **

Jeff lowered his wristcom after Brains signed off and looked over from his position under one of the parasol towards the swimming pool. John was in there swimming, completely oblivious to the rest of the world. For a few moments Jeff just watched his third born son swim, his tall frame moving effortless through the water, while he wasn't as good or graceful a swimmer as Gordon, John could still make swimming look easy.

"John," he called after a moment. Hearing his name being called John stopped swimming and treading water turned in place to look over at his father.

"Yes Dad?" John asked curious as to what his father wanted.

"Brains just called he wants to see you in the lab," Jeff replied. "He says that he has something for you."

"Something to help with these things in me," John asked.

"That is a pretty safe bet John," Jeff answered with a smile.

John smiled back and swum to the edge of the pool before climbing out and not for the first time Jeff mentally smiled when he saw how fit John like all his brothers was. Despite being tall and slim John was still well built, like a gymnast, balancing muscular bulk and strength with agility. All the boys were like that, as was Jeff himself in point of fact. Having been bitten by the fitness bug years ago as a young man just entering the US airforce Jeff had made it a point to keep himself in top shape.

"I'll go and have a shower then head to the lab Dad," John said.

"Okay John. I'll join you down there shortly."

"Okay Dad." As he spoke John picked up the towel that he had left on one of the sun loungers and wrapped it around himself before heading towards the house. As he walked he smiled at Kyrano who was coming the other way. Kyrano smiled back before continuing on his way to speak to Jeff.

"Excuse me Mr Tracy," Kyrano said respectfully. "There is a call for you waiting on line three."

"Thank you Kyrano. Who is it," Jeff asked standing up.

"I believe its Miss Adams," Kyrano answered. Jeff blinked surprised, Julia Adams was one of the top mangers of Tracy Industries, and one of the few who knew what really went on here on Tracy Island. Julia wouldn't contact him here unless it was important and not something she could deal with on her own, such instances were few and far between.

"Did she give you any idea what the problem is," Jeff asked.

"I'm afraid not though she did say it was a matter of the utmost urgency," Kyrano replied. Jeff nodded having expected that, so without speaking further he followed in John's footsteps bound for the villa house.

**

* * *

John's Room **

**Ten Minutes Later**

John stepped out of his bedroom, freshly showered and changed into a pair of jeans and a white T-shirt. He was curious as to what Brains wanted to see him about but he was certain that it had to have something to do with nanites inside his body. He knew that Brains had been examining the data Alan had recovered intensely, maybe he had found away to remove the nanites from his body.

Strangely John wasn't sure how he actually felt about that prospect now. Though the nanites were causing him some problems now and again when they ran low on energy he was beginning to like the way they made him feel most of the time. He had never felt as good as he felt now, and while his now superhuman speed and strength scared him somewhat, he liked the feeling. The thought that he could suddenly go back to being a normal human being, with normal senses and normal physical abilities was not as appealing as it had been. _I'm coming to like being a virtual real life superman,_ John thought, _going back to being normal would be so strange. But if that is what Brains has figured out how to do then I'll cope. Probably be easier to do in now than later._

John sighed to himself. Standing here in the hallway outside his bedroom was not going to tell him what Brains had come up with. So he turned and started walking in the direction of Brains lab, mentally preparing himself for whatever Brains had to say.

He hadn't gotten far when a voice behind him made him jump slightly.

"John," Scott asked from behind him. John paused and spun around almost tripping himself up with the speed of the motion. He was still getting used to the way his body could move so fast, though he was having fewer and fewer problems in that regard at least. He saw that Scott had emerged from his bedroom, where he'd been doing something on his computer, and was looking at him in curiosity. John could hear music coming out of the room as well and resisted the impulse to roll his eyes as he heard the distinctive sound of jazz. He hated that what Scott and surprisingly Alan found so attractive about jazz was beyond him.

"Hi Scott," John replied. "You startled me."

"Sorry I didn't mean to," Scott answered with a smile. "Guess my music masked my footsteps from even your hearing." John shook his head.

"No I'm trying to keep my hearing at normal level," John replied smiling back. "It's not polite to inadvertently eavesdrop on other peoples conversations after all. And that's way to easy to do when I let the sensitivity of my hearing creep up."

"True. So where are you heading in such a hurry? I thought you were swimming."

"I was but Brains called up to Dad," John explained. "Brains wants to see me in the lab. He says he has something for me."

"That sounds interesting," Scott answered. "Mind if I tag along?"

"Sure come on." Scott smiled.

"Ok I'll just go turn my CD off and be right with you." John nodded and for a moment Scott disappeared back into his bedroom.

After a moment the sound of jazz music stopped as Scott turned the player off and John resisted the impulse to sigh in relief that the horrid sound was no longer assaulting his ears. Then Scott reappeared, walking fully out into the hallway and closing the door behind him. Scott inwardly smiled when he saw that John was hiding his relief that he had turned the CD off, he knew that John did not like jazz one bit. _Though I don't see why,_ he thought, _jazz is perfectly good music._

"Lets go then," he said to John. John smiled once then turned and started walking again, Scott matched his brothers pace and they walked in companionable silence towards Brains lab.

**

* * *

Brains Lab **

Brains looked over at his lab door when he heard the familiar sound of it sliding open. He smiled when he saw John come in and he wasn't surprised to see Scott coming in with him. Though he was a bit surprised the Jeff hadn't come along, something had obviously come up to delay him.

"You asked to see me Brains?" John asked.

"Yes. I have s…s…something here for you John. Something to h…h…help you with the nanites and avoid s…s…situations like the one l…l…last week at the e…e…end of the Sydney r…r…refinery fire," Brains replied.

"Oh what have you got Brains," John asked hopefully, wondering what Brains had come up with.

Brains smiled and picked up the new wristcom and handed it to John. John frowned in confusion when Brains handed it to him. A new wristcom, what did that have to do with the nanites? John looked at Brains with a confused look on his handsome features. Brains smiled softly realising that John didn't understand why he had seemingly given him a new wristcom when his current one worked perfectly well.

"It's n…n…not a normal wristcom John," he explained. "Its b…b…been redesigned to include s…s…sensors to monitor a v…v…variety of things in your body and from them d…d…determine the s…s…state of the nanites. Put it on and you'll s…s…see."

John raised an eyebrow but did as he was told and took off his old wristcom and put on the new one. As he tightened the strap he noticed that there was a new button on the side, next to the small green one that was used when a call was received to either answer or send a busy signal. As soon as he was happy that the watch wasn't going to fall off his wrist he looked at the face of the watch which looked no different to his current watch.

"Okay now what Brains?" he asked. "I noticed a new button on the side near the receive button."

"P…p…press the new b…b…button John," Brains instructed and John did as he was told and was startled when the display on the watch changed. Changed from showing the time to showing what almost looked like a power gage with different sized bars that ranged from a tiny red one to a large green one. The bars shaded from four green ones, to four yellow ones that progressively darkened to amber to three red ones that themselves darkened to the deep red final bar. Currently only two of the green bars were illuminated along with the amber and red ones; the other two were dark.

"Okay Brains what does this display mean," he asked. "It's a display of my energy levels isn't it?"

"Y…y…yes," Brains replied. "Basically that is w…w…what it is. The watch will monitor your blood s…s…sugar level and other factors which my t…t…tests have shown change as p…p…power levels in the nanites start to drop. When you enter the yellow to amber area the watch will s…s…sound a series of warning bleeps to alert you and then a much louder series of bleeps when you e…e…enter the red zone."

As he listened to what Brains said a smile appeared on John's face. The watch would help him; it would help him a lot. Being able to keep an eye on what the nanites energy level was like was a major step in the direction of living with the things and the incredible abilities they had given him. John looked at the energy level display again, he guessed that it was showing only two green bars because they hadn't had dinner yet and breakfast had been nearly four hours ago. Add in the fact that he'd been testing his capabilities some more this morning before going swimming it made sense that the nanites energy level would have dropped considerably.

He pressed the small button again and the normal watch display returned and he looked up at Brains.

"Thanks Brains," he said smiling. "This will help a lot." Brains smiled sheepishly at the praise.

"Y…y…your welcome John," Brains replied. "It's the l…l…least I can do until I f…f…figure out how to get those t…t…things out of you."

"Still that watch will help a lot," Scott commented speaking for the first time. "It's a major step forward Brains. Especially as no one knows if the ultimate goal of getting the nanites out of John is even possible, there are still so many unknowns about this technology."

"True Scott," John agreed a moment before the intercom bleeped for attention. John watched as Brains reached over and answered the hail.

"Laboratory," Brains replied.

"Excuse me Mr Brains but can you please finish whatever experiments you are doing," Kyrano answered. "Dinner will be ready in ten minutes."

Listening John exchanged an amused glance with Scott; it was a common practice for Kyrano to call Brains a short time before dinner was ready. Without being alerted that dinner was almost ready Brains would keep working on whatever experiment or project he happened to be working and not eat at all. It had happened before on more than one occasion. Scott smiled back.

"We w…w…will be right up Kyrano," Brains replied into the intercom ignoring the look Scott and John were exchanging.

"I will set your places ready," Kyrano answered then closed the connection from his end.

"Let's go," Scott said turning around and heading out of the lab. John followed making a mental note to check the energy display on his new wristcom after dinner so he could see exactly what effect it had on his nanite energy levels. He already knew that eating increased energy but it would be interesting to see just how much it helped.

Brains for his part locked down his computer before standing up and following the boys out of his lab towards the surface, all the while making a mental note to check the readings from John's new wristcom later. The more information he had on the nanites and how they behaved and reacted the better, because it would take him closer to what was at the moment his ultimate goal with them.

Getting them out of John.


	18. Chapter 18: A Desperate Call

**Enhanced**

**Chapter Eighteen: A Desperate Call**

**Thunderbird Five**

**Next Day**

Alan Tracy groaned in annoyance as the incoming emergency signal alert sounded throughout Thunderbird Five. _Now what,_ he thought stopping the DVD he had been watching before getting up from the couch in the entertainment centre and heading for the stations control room. He wondered who wanted their help this time even as he cursed their lousy timing; the movie had just been getting good.

As he approached the control room Alan sighed and pushed his annoyance out of his mind. He was up here on Thunderbird Five to do a job after all, not just lean back and enjoy himself. Entering the control room he heard a frantic sounding American voice coming from the speakers.

"Calling International Rescue," the voice was saying. "Calling International Rescue. Please respond. Damn is this thing even working? Calling International Rescue." _Okay, okay keep your shirt on,_ Alan thought slightly amused as he picked up the microphone before turning serious as he opened the communications channel.

"This is International Rescue space station receiving your distress call," he responded.

"Oh thank god," the voice replied. "International Rescue we're in desperate need of your help. We can't get out, the mountain is going to erupt soon and…"

"Calm down, calm down," Alan instructed calmly. "Give me the details clearly. Tell me everything." For a moment there was silence and in his mind's eye Alan could see whoever was calling him taking a few deep breaths to calm down a bit and collect himself to better give him the details of the situation.

"You're right International Rescue. I shouldn't have freaked like that I'm sorry," the voice came back at last. "Do you have a name I can call you by?"

"It's alright I understand. My name is Alan. Now tell me how can we help you?"

"Okay Alan. My name is Doctor Kyle Norman I'm with the United States Geological Survey. My field unit and myself are in desperate need of your assistance."

"I'm all ears Doctor Norman give me the details."

**

* * *

Tracy Island**

**That Same Time**

Scott Tracy stood at the end of the island's runway looking towards the sky as Tracy One retreated into the distance. Dad was off on his way to the Tracy Industries tower in New York to deal with a major foul up, a foul up that could cost them a lucrative defence contract. Dad was going to New York to see what he could do to salvage the situation and keep the contract. Scott didn't doubt that their father would succeed in his goal, and make the persons who'd fouled up wish they had never been born, it just meant that he was going to be away from the island for a few days.

After a moment Scott sighed and turned around and started heading back along the runway to the path that would take him back to the villa. He hoped that no rescue calls came in while Jeff Tracy was away from the island, as he would not be able to go on the missions but be forced to stay here and only listen in and guess what was going on. Which was something he absolutely hated doing, he was a man of action not a man who liked sitting on the sidelines unable to do anything. _If a rescue comes it comes,_ he told himself firmly, _you'll just have to grin and bare it and not pester your brothers with unnecessary calls just so you can know what is going on in the danger zone._

**

* * *

Ten Minutes Later**

Scott was just stepped off the path onto the sundeck besides the swimming pool and grinned when he saw that all his Earth side brothers were there. Virgil and Gordon were playing a game of water volleyball in the pool with Tin-Tin acting as referree, while John was sitting comfortably under the parasol reading a book. _Perfect peace and quiet,_ he thought as he moved to sit down on one of the loungers.

He was just sitting down when a familiar alarm went off triggering a chorus of groans from around the deck. _Typical,_ Scott thought getting back to his feet before running up the stairs to go inside the villa. Footsteps behind him let him know that John was following and he knew that Virgil and Gordon would be along as soon as they could dry themselves off and get some clothes on.

"I wonder who needs our help this time," John commented matching Scott's pace as they entered the air-conditioned comfort of the villa.

"I don't know. Whoever it is their timing sucks," Scott replied. John laughed knowing Scott was going to be unhappy that he couldn't go on the rescue.

"Since when do accidents and disasters have good timing," John asked.

"Good point," Scott answered as he came into the living room and dropped his pace to brisk walk as he went over to his father's desk. Moving around behind the desk he sat down reluctantly before pressing a control to answer the incoming call.

"Go ahead Alan," Scott said and a moment later Alan's portrait vanished replaced with a live feed from Thunderbird Five.

"Don't kill the messenger Scott but we've got an emergency call from a group of scientists in the Cascades mountain range," Alan replied. "They were sent to replace some sensors that had gone down on Mount Baker and conduct an up to date survey on the state of the volcanoes glacier and get some samples from the geothermal field near the summit. Apparently there has been a very sharp rise in earthquake and geothermal activity around Mount Baker in recent months."

"Sounds like Mount Baker is stirring from its sleep," Scott commented.

"It's worse than that Scott," Alan answered. "Three hours ago there was a series of powerful gas and steam explosions in the summit crater. Since then gas emissions from the crater have shot up and the volcano is sending up a lot of smoke. It's going to erupt soon maybe as early as this afternoon."

"So why haven't the scientists got out of there," John asked.

"Because they can't," Alan replied. "The area has been drenched with heavy rain for the last week. An earthquake triggered a landslide that has wiped out the narrow road out of the valley where their base camp is. And its still raining and extremely windy, no helicopter or helijet can get anywhere near them and they're all busy anyway helping with an emergency evacuation of the towns and cities within the potential fallout zone if Mount Baker undergoes a major eruption."

"So we're their only chance," Scott summarised. "All right Alan tell them that we're on our way. Also try to establish a remote link with the USGS so you can monitor the earthquake activity around Mount Baker."

"F-A-B, Scott," Alan replied and broke the connection from his end so his portrait returned.

"Guess I better get going then," John said standing up from where he had been leaning against the desk.

"Yes," Scott agreed. "But before you go John what's your energy level like?"

John smiled softly and raised his wristcom and pressed the button that showed the energy levels of the nanites within his body. He'd only eaten a short while ago and smiled when he saw that his nanites were at full power, every single bar on the energy gaze was full.

"My energy level is fine Scott," John replied. "According to this these things in me are at full power. I'll be fine. You know rescues like the one were about to go on don't generally take very long."

"I know," Scott answered with a sigh. "Okay then John off you go, and John take good care of my 'bird." John grinned as he headed over to the hidden entrance to Thunderbird One.

"I'll do my best Scott. Just don't blame me if we come back covered in ash. You know that volcanoes uniformly have lousy timing when it comes to erupting."

"I know. I just hope Mount Baker holds off blowing its stack until you get back. It took me three weeks to get all the ash out of Thunderbird One the last time we dealt with a situation involving an erupting volcano. That stuff just gets absolutely everywhere."

"Tell me something I don't know," John answered as he stood his back to the wall, before reaching up and grabbing the light fittings on the wall. For a moment nothing more happened, then the wall began to swivel around and in seconds the view of the lounge had vanished and John found himself face to face with Thunderbird One.

Without hesitation John stepped forward onto the platform immediately in front of him and the platform began to move carrying him over to Thunderbird One, the machines hatch opening automatically as he approached.

Without hesitation John went over to the small locker inside the cockpit where uniforms were kept. Three uniforms hung inside one for each person qualified to pilot Thunderbird One namely himself, Scott and Alan. John took out his uniform and started to get changed, the sooner he was in uniform the sooner he could launch Thunderbird One and get out to the danger zone and figure out how to save the scientists. Hopefully before Mount Baker decided to do its thing as an active volcano.

* * *

Scott watched John leave and silently wished his younger brother good luck. _Mount Baker better not erupt till they get back,_ he thought, _I don't want to see Thunderbird One covered in ash again let alone any of my brothers._

Running footsteps caught his attention and Scott looked over at the other entrance to the room as Virgil and Gordon came running in, to see what the emergency was. Both looked like they had quickly thrown on clothes after having dried themselves off. Scott was vaguely amused to see that Virgil's normally immaculate hair was messed up, Virgil obviously hadn't even taken the time to brush his hair.

"What we got Scott," Virgil asked just as Tin-Tin also entered the room as well to see what was going on, who needed International Rescue's help this time.

"There is a problem with Mount Baker in the Cascades Virgil," Scott replied before giving Virgil and Gordon a condensed version of what Alan had told him about the situation.

"Doesn't sound like we have a lot of time," Virgil said thoughtfully. "It sounds like Mount Baker could erupt at any time."

"Yes it does so what are we standing around here for," Gordon replied.

"You're right Gordon lets get going," Virgil acknowledged heading over to the rocket portrait that concealed the chute to Thunderbird Two. Gordon for his part left the room heading for the passenger lift that would take him to Thunderbird Two. In these sort of rescue situations it was always a good idea to have a double crew on Thunderbird Two ready to operate the rescue platform if there wasn't enough time to land.

"Good luck," Scott said.

"Thanks Scott I think we're going to need it," Virgil replied as he leaned back against the almost floor to ceiling portrait of the rocket that had years before taken their father to the moon. The portrait pivoted into a horizontal position and Virgil slid along its length onto the sled on the other side and disappeared from Scott's view as the portrait returned to its normal vertical position.

Scott sighed as he heard Thunderbird One taking off, just as Kyrano came into the room.

"Excuse me Mr Scott would you like some coffee," the elderly Malaysian manservant asked politely. Scott looked over at Kyrano and smiled.

"Yes please Kyrano I think I'm going to need it," Scott replied with a smile. Kyrano smiled back and bowed politely before leaving to go and make Scott a cup of coffee.

"Do you think they will get there in time to save the scientists and get out before Mount Baker erupts Scott," Tin-Tin asked.

"I hope so Tin-Tin," Scott answered. "I hope so."


	19. Chapter 19: Eruption Part One

**Chapter Nineteen: Eruption Part One**

**Mount Baker Base Camp**

**One Hour Later**

Doctor Kyle Norman's head jerked up to look in the direction of Mount Baker as the three thousand two hundred and eighty five metre tall volcano emitted another ominous rumbling sound. Even with the unaided eye he could see that the amount of smoke being emitted from the summit crater was getting thicker and darker. _I hope International Rescue gets here soon,_ he thought eyeing Mount Baker nervously. _We don't have long before that beast really starts to blow its stack._

Abruptly a rumbling noise filled the air and the ground beneath his feet began trembling. _Harmonic tremor,_ he thought a millisecond before the ground lurched and knocked him off his feet to hit the ground hard. From all around he heard the screams shouts of his field unit as the tremor knocked them off there feet as well. Amidst the rumbling of the tremor and the shouts a harsh snapped, cracking sound could be heard, and one of his team emitted a scream that faded after a second, to be followed by a thud and a pained yelp.

Finally the tremor subsided and Kyle picked himself up off the ground and looked around for the other five members of his field unit. The tremor had caused a huge crack to open up in the ground, almost completely slicing their base camp in half. A number of trees had been toppled by the quake, and one of the trailers had fallen into the gash in the ground and was lying on its side. He could see four of his team sprawled around the place, picking themselves up off the ground where they had been thrown like toys by the tremor. But he couldn't see the fifth member, the geoscience student Marcus Haliwell who was on a year's internship with them.

"Marcus where are you," he called out. "Marcus?"

A pained groan came within the wide deep gash in the ground. Kyle's head jerked around to look at the gash.

"Marcus?" he called out again hesitant this time. _Please don't tell me that Marcus has fallen down into the ditch,_ he thought.

"Help me," Marcus answered his voice faint and thick with pain but coming from the direction of the gash.

"Marcus," Kyle said in alarm moving forwards hearing all around the rest of his team rushing forwards as well. Kyle reached the edge of the great rip in the ground and peered down into the fissure that the earthquake had opened.

"Where is he I can't see him," he said looking with increasing alarm.

"I can he's pinned," Jessica Henson called from a short distance to his left. Kyle immediately headed over to her and followed her gaze and winced at what he was.

Sure enough there was Marcus. He was lying at the base of the fissure, he had obviously been thrown down there during the tremor, and the fallen trailer had him pinned from halfway down his thighs. Marcus looked up at them his handsome, youthful features contorted in pain and mortal terror.

"Help me," Marcus said.

"We will," Kyle replied, "we'll get you out of there." _Somehow,_ he thought to himself wondering how on Earth they were going to get Marcus out of his predicament before Mount Baker erupted.

Abruptly a new sound, an artificial sound, caught his attention, the sound of jet engines of somekind. Kyle looked up to see what to his eyes had to be the most beautiful sight in the world. A incredibly sleek, silver, red and blue rocket-like aircraft had appeared seemingly from nowhere. _There here,_ he thought in pure relief knowing that all of them including Marcus would soon be safe, _International Rescue are here._

**

* * *

Thunderbird One**

John carefully studied the scene before and below him with the aide of Thunderbird One's powerful sensors. Things did not look good, the amount of smoke coming from Mount Bakers crater was increasing in thickness and getting hotter as the molten rock in the volcanoes throat rose ever closer to the surface. The amounts of sulphur dioxide, hydrogen sulphide and other volcanic gasses in the smoke were also increasing. Though he was no vulcanologist John knew that was not a good sign, Mount Baker was definitely going to erupt, and erupt soon.

Another thing that the sensors were recording was worrying him as well. The glacier around the top of the mountain was warming up, the sensors showed clear increases in temperature, and the biggest increase in temperature was on the flank that fed into the Fraiser valley. History showed what happened when erupting magma met glacial ice, a flood of biblical proportions and volcanic mudflows that destroyed everything in their path. There were a number of towns and cities in the Fraiser valley, though thankfully the government in a well-rehearsed plan was currently evacuating them. _I just hope they get everyone out in time,_ John thought, _when this beast erupts it will melt the glacier and send a massive mudflow down that valley._

After a moment John sighed and turned the sensors down on the valley below him and the USGS field camp. A concerned frown appeared on his face as the ground scan revealed that the camp had been almost completely sliced in half by one of the harmonic tremors that now frequently shaking the area as Mount Baker awoke from its sleep. The trailers had been sent sprawling one lying on its side in the crack in the ground that according to his sensors was nearly three metres deep. A cluster of life signs was around the edge of the gash and another seemed to be down inside it, someone had fallen down in it. Obviously that person couldn't get out even though three metres was not that far to climb out. _I better get down there and check it out,_ John thought, _but first I need to find out how much time were likely to have._

"Thunderbird One to Thunderbird Five," he said into the radio. Immediately his communications screen lit up with a real time image of his youngest brother and fellow astronaut.

"Go ahead John," Alan replied immediately.

"Have you been able to establish that link with the USGS seismology centre?" John asked.

"I have and I've been monitoring the readings from the sensors around Mount Baker from here," Alan answered. "One of the seismologists told me what to look for in the readings it doesn't look good."

"How much time do we have?"

"I can't be sure as you know volcanoes are notoriously unpredictable but we the harmonic tremors are swarming and getting more and more frequent. We're also picking up what the seismologist termed long period tremors, they appear to show that the magma pressure inside Mount Baker is increasing exponentially."

"Do you have any idea how long we have?" John asked not liking what Alan was telling him at all, increasing harmonic tremors and increasing pressure confirmed that a massive amount of molten rock was moving under Mount Baker, getting ever closer to the surface.

"I've run the data through the stations computer, the model indicates that the eruption could come anytime in the next five hours," Alan replied. "I can't be anymore precise than that John sorry."

"It's alright," John answered. "Keep an eye on it for me will you."

"I will," Alan acknowledged. "I will give you as much warning as I can before the eruption begins."

"F-A-B, Alan. I'll head in to land now."

"F-A-B, John. Good luck."

"Thanks Alan. We're definitely going to need it on this one." Alan nodded and vanished from the communications screen as he cut the transmission from his end. John sighed and turned his attention to the complex procedure of landing Thunderbird One.

**

* * *

Mount Baker Base Camp**

Kyle watched as finally after a few minutes of just hovering there in the air, the haze sunlight getting through the clouds and smoke rising from the mountain glimmering off its hull, the Thunderbird began to move again. As he watched the machine descended with a roaring of VTOL jets, even that motion seemed to be incredibly graceful. In moments she landed and the VTOL jets shut down.

For a moment nothing more happened then a small slot opened in the side of the machine and a ladder deployed, a moment before a hatch in the side opened. A tall blond haired man in the familiar, globally recognised, blue uniform of International Rescue appeared in the hatchway, before climbing down out of his aircraft.

Kyle walked up to meet him as the handsome young man who he guessed to be in his mid-twenties turned to look at him.

"Thank goodness you're here," Kyle said in greeting. "I'm Doctor Kyle Norman we are in desperate need of you're help."

"My name is John," John responded. "Before I get my equipment out of Thunderbird One will you give me a quick rundown on the situation." Kyle nodded.

"As you can see the most recent tremor opened a fissure in the ground right across the camp," Kyle explained. "One of my team Marcus – he's on a years internship with us – was thrown into the gash during the quake. One of the trailers fell in as well has him pinned from midway down his thighs. I have no idea how we're going to get him out of there, from the amount of smoke coming out of the crater we don't have much time before Mount Baker erupts."

"I am aware of that," John replied. "One of my colleagues is monitoring the data feeds from the sensors around the mountain, he'll be keeping me updated. Thunderbird Two is on its way here now with heavy rescue gear, as soon as they arrive we'll see what we can do. In the meantime would you mind giving me a hand with my equipment."

"No problem," Kyle answered with a smile. "No, no problem at all. How long until Thunderbird Two gets here?"

"Only about ten minutes. Doctor worry Doctor Norman we'll get all of you out of here before the volcano blows its stack."

"I hope you're right John." _So do I,_ John thought.

**

* * *

Thunderbird Two**

**Ten Minutes Later**

Virgil grimaced as he guided Thunderbird Two in towards the landing co-ordinates in the clearing where the field camp was located. The amount of smoke coming out of the crater of Mount Baker had him worried. Very worried. He was no expert but he could tell that there time was short.

"That doesn't look good Virg," Gordon commented from the passenger seats behind him, but still easily able to see out of the front windshields. "I hope we can get these people out in time before that beast really wakes up. I hate rescues where a volcano is involved."

"You and me both Gordon," Virgil replied as he brought Thunderbird Two into a stationary hover over a clear area of the field camp below them, on the opposite side of the gash in the ground to Thunderbird One. "Took me two months to get all the ash out of here after the last time and fix all the little dents in the fuselage from where we got pelted with rocks."

"Yeah I remember. Scott, Brains and you were in a right foul mood for days after that rescue," Gordon answered as Virgil deployed the wheels and engaged the VTOL jets lowering Thunderbird Two out of the sky with a rumbling of power that was more felt than heard in here.

"You're the same when Thunderbird Four gets damaged or dirty in a rescue," Virgil reminded him.

"True. We're all very possessive and protective of our 'Birds." Gordon grinned and nodded just as a shudder momentarily went through the deck beneath them as Thunderbird Two landed.

Virgil cut the VTOL jets and secured Thunderbird Two's systems as much as he dared. He didn't completely secure as he normally would since he didn't know how much time they had before the eruption. If Mount Baker really started to erupt violently then they would have to get out of here really fast every second would count. Thankfully there was no danger of anyone stealing Thunderbird Two even if they did get onto the control deck, the handgrips on the steering wheel were equipped with sensors keyed to the DNA signature of authorised operators. No one other than one of the Tracy family would be able to get a Thunderbird to respond to them.

"Right were down," Virgil said standing up. "Let's get over to Mobile Control and see what plan John has come up with."

"F-A-B," Gordon replied standing up himself. "I hope it's not as crazy as some of the plans that Scott has been known to come up with." Virgil laughed.

"Knowing John it won't be. Come on," Virgil answered heading out of the control deck. Gordon smiled and followed. _I hope whatever plan John's come up with is going to be easy to execute,_ he thought, _because I honestly don't think that Mount Baker is going to give us a lot of time._


	20. Chapter 20: Eruption Part Two

**Chapter Twenty: Eruption Part Two**

**Mobile Control**

**Mount Baker Base Camp, Five Minutes Later**

John finished explaining the plan he had come up with to rescue the trapped Marcus in the shortest time possible to Virgil and Gordon.

"Any questions," John asked.

"No seems pretty straight forward," Virgil replied. "The biggest problem will be getting the lifting units in the correct positions. The gash is narrow, moving about down there is going to be difficult."

"That's true," Gordon agreed. "But we only really need to lift each end of the trailer. Marcus is pinned by his legs at one end of the trailer. Once we have it high enough we can put the spinal board in place and get him out of there."

Before anyone could speak a deep rumbling filled the air and the ground beneath them, began to shudder once again as another tremor shook the area around Mount Baker, John steadied himself against Mobile Control as Virgil and Gordon braced themselves. Finally the quake subsided right before the roar of an explosion ripped through the air drawing their attention to Mount Baker. Two jets of dark grey ash and steam were shooting up into the smoke cloud, thickening it even more.

"That doesn't look good," Gordon said.

"It's not," Doctor Kyle Norman replied from where he was standing near by. "That's a jetting eruption. Its caused by gas escaping from the rising magma, the closer it gets to the surface the more it expands and the quicker it escapes from the molten material. Though it looks spectacular its not the main eruption."

"How long do we have," John asked. Kyle shrugged.

"As I am sure you know predicting when a volcano is going to erupt is not an exact science. Any timeframe I gave you would only be a rough guess at best. Though that last harmonic tremor was very shallow. You probably only have an hour possibly two."

"Then we better get a move on," John said.

"Indeed lets do this," Virgil agreed. "Come on Gordon lets go and get the lifting gear. Doctor Norman if you and your people will come with us we'll get you all secure in Thunderbird Two."

"My people could go with you but I would rather stay here," Kyle replied. "John you said earlier that one of your colleagues is monitoring the seismic activity from Mount Baker."

"Yes. Why do you ask?"

"If you can get the information relayed here to Mobile Control I could interpret it for you. No disrespect intended but I doubt any of you are really trained to interpret that kind of data."

"None taken none of us are geologists," John replied, thinking about it for a moment. Though he knew Alan would be doing the best he could, like him his little brother had above average intelligence, it would be nice to have a professional opinion. They could all understand most things, but as he had said they weren't geologists or volcanologists. "Alright you can stay. I'll get the data relayed down here from Thunderbird Five."

"Thank you," Kyle acknowledged relieved that he would be able to do something useful to help during the rescue. He would have felt helpless just sat waiting in Thunderbird Two; he needed to feel that he was involved somehow in saving Marcus. As team leader the welfare of the young intern was his responsibility at the end of the day. He had promised the boys parents that he would look after him – Marcus was there only son – and he took that responsibility very seriously indeed.

"No problem," John answered with a smile. Then looked at Gordon and Virgil to see that they were already rounding up the other four members of the field unit and guiding them to the relative safety of Thunderbird Two. "I'll just sort out the relay now," he said turning his attention back to Mobile Control and pressing a button on the communications part of the console. "Mobile Control to Thunderbird Five."

Immediately the communications screen came to life showing Alan's face and upper torso. It didn't escape John's notice that there were faint flickers of static interference across the video feed. He knew what the cause would be; the rising heat in the smoke plume from Mount Baker would be starting to disrupt the electrical balance of the atmosphere. Which would cause considerable interference on communications channels, though the bandwidth they used for their communications was less vulnerable to atmospheric interference though there would still be some effects.

"Go ahead John," Alan said.

"Alan one of the scientists down here has offered to monitor the seismic data from the sensors around Mount Baker," John replied. "Can you set a relay from Thunderbird Five to here."

"Sure though I'm not sure how long it will last," Alan replied. "I'll be over the horizon soon and we'll have to rely on satellite relays as opposed to the stations main array. With the growing electrical interference it the atmosphere the data transmission might not hold together."

"Very true," John agreed knowing that using satellites to relay reduced the bandwidth available for data transmission and made it slightly more vulnerable to atmospheric disruption. Disruption that would only get worse as the amount of smoke and ash coming from Mount Baker increased. "Set up the relay anyway Alan."

"F-A-B," Alan replied. "I'll have to reconfigure the system it will take a few minutes. I'll have to put this signal on hold while I do that."

"F.A.B."

Alan disappeared from the communications screen to be replaced by a flashing International Rescue insignia, indicating the call was on hold. While he waited John looked back at Thunderbird Two to see how Gordon and Virgil were doing.

Almost without realising he was doing it he enhanced his vision so that it almost seemed like he was standing next to Thunderbird Two. Just in time to see Gordon and Virgil re-emerging from Thunderbird Two carrying the rescue equipment that they would need to get Marcus out of his fix and that Virgil had a pack that would contain the components for an antigrav stretcher as well as a spinal board and collar.

A sudden bleep from Mobile Control made him internally jump. Blinking John returned his vision to normal and mentally berated himself for doing that. _You really mustn't do that John,_ he told himself, _use your nanite abilities when you don't have to._ John turned back to the communications screen to see that Alan had reappeared and was looking at him oddly.

"Are you okay John?" Alan asked and although his voice was composed John could read between the lines and heard the concern in Alan's voice.

"I'm alright Alan I just switched off there for a second," he said putting in a little white lie. He couldn't tell Alan the truth as Kyle was within earshot. No one outside the family and their inner circle could know that he had what were basically superpowers. Superpowers that were grounded in technology but superpowers nevertheless, if the wrong person heard about the nanites then John hated to think what would happen. The ways that the nanite technology inside of him could be abused were downright terrifying, too terrifying to really consider.

"I see," Alan replied again his voice was composed and calm but John could tell his little brother had read the silent message, that he had been distracted by something nanite based. "I'm ready to start the datalink," Alan continued as if nothing had happened.

"F-A-B, Alan," John replied as his hands danced across the console making sure everything was ready here for the datalink. "We're ready here start the datalink."

"F.A.B." Alan looked down from the camera pickup and John could faintly hear typing. After a moment a green light appeared indicating Mobile Control was receiving the carrier signal. "John can you confirm carrier signal lock?"

"Lock confirmed Alan."

"Ok. Transmitting data now," Alan said as John heard him tap a final command into one of the many consoles in Thunderbird Five's control room. Instantly one of the plasma screen monitors on the Mobile Control console came to life showing seismology readings. John glanced at the signal strength indicator and smiled. Despite the increasing disruption to the electrical balance of the atmosphere the signal was at full strength. For now at least. John knew it would drop in strength a bit once Thunderbird Five's orbital path took it over the horizon.

"We're receiving the data Alan. Coming through full strength."

"F-A-B, I'll continue to monitor the seismograph readings up here as well just in case we loose the signal," Alan said looking back up into the camera feed.

"F-A-B, Alan."

"Good luck down their guys."

"Thanks Alan we're going to need it," John replied. Alan smiled then disappeared from the screen as he broke the connection from his end. A moment before Virgil and Gordon hurried past Mobile Control heading right for the huge gash ripped in floor.

"Good luck you two," John told them as they hurried past.

"Thanks John," Gordon called back. John smiled then turned his attention to Kyle who was studying the seismology readings with a worried frown on his face.

"How does it look," he asked.

"Not good," Kyle replied. "Whatever you're going to do to save Marcus you better do it soon. Those last few harmonic tremors were extremely shallow, as you know. There are also a lot of long period events. Almost continuously now. We will be lucky if we even have an hour."

As if to underline his words Mount Baker rumbled ominously again and the ground beneath them shuddering slightly in time with the rumble. A moment later the concussive sound of another explosion ripped through the air and in unison John and Kyle glanced at Mount Baker's summit. To see a third jetting event beginning in the crater, a jet even more powerful than the other two, sending up a huge amount of gas, steam and ash. Even from here John could clearly see small plumes of pulverised ice shooting up from places near the edge of the crater where rocks ripped from the volcanoes throat by the power of the gas jets pummelled the summit glacier.

After a moment or two John saw that the gas jets were suddenly weakening, the jets of steam and ash reducing, then stopping altogether. But only for a moment as even as he drew in a breath a tremendous roar came from Mount Baker accompanied by another violent earth tremor. A massive column of thick grey and white ash, smoke and steam abruptly vomited forth from the crater, small specks of red and orange flame flickered through the cloud as it climbed high into the sky.

"Oh my god," Kyle said softly though John easily heard him. "It's started."

"Kyle get into Thunderbird Two now," John said decisively standing up. "I'll go and help Virgil and Gordon save your friend. But I need you to go aboard Thunderbird Two now." Kyle looked at John, looking into his cool blue eyes and seeing the honesty there, he knew that John was going to do everything he could to save Marcus.

"Ok," Kyle replied. "Good luck. I would recommend that if you've got breather masks you put them on now. There's going to be ash fall any minute, a lot of it." John nodded.

"We will do that," he said. He knew how dangerous volcanic ash was and why they had to wear breathing equipment when there was ash fall. Ash particles could be inhaled after all and if that got into your lungs in sufficient quantity it would kill you. Kyle nodded then turned his back on John and walked towards Thunderbird Two.

John watched him leave even as another explosion ripped through the air. He glanced briefly at Mount Baker to see the eruptive column growing in strength and force, climbing higher and higher into the sky. As it did so it spread across the sky, forming a boiling mushroom shaped cloud, almost like the cloud from a nuclear explosion, massive arcs of energy spread through the cloud and the sunlight began to fade as the ash and smoke blocked it out transforming day into night. From the spreading cloud John could see a fine grey mist descending, plummeting to Earth with deceptive grace.

"The ash," John said softly looking down and grabbing his breather unit from the belt of his uniform and unfolded it from the compact cylinder it folded up into and slid it in place over his nose and mouth. Then he abandoned Mobile Control and hurried over to the gash in the ground to help Virgil and Gordon free Marcus.

**

* * *

Thunderbird Five**

**That Same Time**

Alan stared at Thunderbird Five's scanner readouts in shock and worry. Though Thunderbird Five was almost over the horizon from Mount Baker now the sensors could see from here that the volcanoes eruption had begun. The sensors showed a massive eruptive column coming up from Mount Baker, it had already risen fifty kilometres into the sky and was spreading out.

It was a terrifying sight to behold. And to him what made it even worse was the knowledge that three of his brothers were under that hellish cloud. He knew he couldn't contact John, he couldn't distract them from the rescue, if he could even get through in the first place. Sensors were detecting massive electrical interference in the atmosphere around the volcano, not even with all of Thunderbird Five's power could he hope to punch a signal through that much interference.

"Good luck down there guys," he said softly as the sensor display disappeared as Thunderbird Five crossed the horizon and he lost the sensor lock. _I should tell Scott he needs to know,_ Alan thought, _he'll be just as helpless as I am. And like me he will hate it. But he'll throttle me if I don't tell him._ With a sigh Alan reached out and manipulated the comm system controls.

"Thunderbird Five to Tracy Island respond please," he said. Almost instantly Scott's face appeared on his communications screen.

"Go ahead Alan," Scott said. "Any news."

"I'm afraid that its bad Scott," Alan replied. "Mount Baker has begun to erupt. John, Gordon and Virgil are going to be working underneath the eruption cloud." As he spoke he saw a look of concern appear on his oldest brothers face.

"I see Alan. Can you get through to them for a situation update Alan?"

"Negative Scott. The electrical interference in the eruptive column will be blocking out all bar short range radio signals and even those would be very sporadic and of poor quality. Even if I used every single transmitter I have I wouldn't be able to punch through the level of interference. I'm afraid that they are on their own."

"I understand. Thanks for letting me know Alan."

"No problem. Though I don't doubt now that your 'Bird will be in desperate need of a wash when they get back," Alan replied with a smile.

"I don't care about that. As long as everyone comes back safe and sound then Thunderbird One being messy and covered in ash would be worth it. If you get any updates at all Alan let me know immediately."

"F.A.B," Alan replied and broke the signal then stood up and left the control room heading for the kitchen. He needed to get a drink to soothe his nerves while he waited, with baited breath, for news of what was happening at Mount Baker on the planet below.

**

* * *

Tracy Island**

Scott sat still and silent for a few moments after his little brother broke off communication. He was grateful to Alan for the update, though the news that there wouldn't be anymore now that the eruption of Mount Baker had begun made him worry that little bit more. He cast his blue eyed gaze over the portraits of the three of his siblings that were in the danger zone that was now even more hazardous than ever.

"Be safe guys," he whispered softly feeling Tin-Tin put her hand on his right shoulder. Neither spoke they just looked at the portraits knowing that they could do nothing. Nothing but wait and pray that John, Virgil and Gordon would be successful in their mission and would escape from Mount Baker without serious injury. _Now I know how Dad must feel whenever he sends us out on a mission,_ Scott thought, _how does he cope with it and knowing that there might come a time where we do not return._

It was an interesting revelation this, knowing how there father must feel whenever they were out on a rescue. Especially in an environment as dangerous as Mount Baker would be now. Scott knew he would be thinking about it for a very long time after this.

A very long time indeed.


	21. Chapter 21: Desperate Times

**Chapter Twenty One: Desperate Times, Desperate Measures**

**Mount Baker Base Camp**

John hurried with as much haste as he could muster without his nanites tripping in and making him super fast to the gash that had split this camp in two. Small flakes of ash were beginning to fall all around, the fall was light at the moment but he knew it was going to get heavier as the eruption continued. Soon this whole area would be buried under a couple of inches of ash and pumice.

Reaching the fissure John jumped down into it. To see Virgil beside Marcus trying to fit the lifting bags into the incredibly narrow space between where Marcus' legs were pinned and the jagged wall of the gash. Gordon was obviously on the other side of the trailer and would be trying to do the same thing. John was glad to see though that Virgil was wearing a breather mask and that he had slipped a spare from the emergency pack over Marcus's nose and mouth. Looking down at Marcus John couldn't help but be struck by how young he was, only a year or two younger than Alan. The young man's eyes were wide and terrified, his skin pale and clammy and features contorted in a mixture of pain, desperation and abject terror.

"How is it coming Virgil," John asked as the ground shuddered in time with another explosion from the volcano. The movement making Marcus cry out in pain as it shifted the weight of the trailer on his legs. Virgil looked back at John.

"Not good John I just can't get this thing in position," Virgil replied. "The ground keeps shifting and the earthquakes aren't helping. I don't know how were going to do this."

"Please," Marcus said his voice weak and thick with pain. "Please get me out of this."

"Don't worry we will," John replied running through all the options in his head again, trying to find a solution. If Virgil and Gordon couldn't get the lifting units in position because of the unstable ground then he could see only one way of getting Marcus out, short of amputating his legs. Something they didn't have the time, expertise or equipment to safely do here. He was going to have to intervene himself, thankfully with Kyle now aboard Thunderbird Two there was no one to really see him. Marcus might see something but John knew that he would probably dismiss it as a hallucination brought on by shock and trauma, any doctors or authorities he saw certainly would. John raised his wristcom and activated it, hoping that short range comm was working enough to be intelligible despite the interference.

"Gordon can you hear me," he said. After a moment Gordon's face appeared in place of his watch face, the video image flickering, awash with heavy static.

"Yes I can hear you John just barely," Gordon answered his voice extremely badly distorted by the interference. It sounded so grating, electronic and metallic that it sounded like an alien bad guy from that cult British TV show they had used to watch as kids, Doctor Who. Now that he thought about it John realised that with the distortion Gordon sounded so like a Dalek.

"Are you having any luck with placing the lifting units on your end Gordon?" John asked. Gordon shook his head, the picture easy to see despite the static washing across the screen.

"I'm afraid not John," Gordon confirmed.

"I guessed as much Virgil is having exactly the same problem," John replied. "Okay Gordon here's what I want you to do. Abandon what your doing over there and get over this side with Virgil. Don't worry about moving the fallen trailer. Leave that to me."

"F-A-B, John," Gordon acknowledged a look of understanding passing across his features. He knew what John was thinking of doing. John smiled and broke off the communication, before lowering the wristcom to his side. Having heard every word that had been spoken Virgil looked up at John.

"John," Virgil said implying all sorts of questions just by saying his name. Questions like are you sure you want to do this? You're risking exposing that you're not like everyone else, that you have superpowers. John looked into Virgil's concerned hazel coloured eyes and smiled, silently communicating that he was sure about this and that there was also no other choice. At least no acceptable choice, he had to do this or they might as well leave and leave Marcus here to die. And that very notion – leaving a civilian in harms way – was just completely and utterly unacceptable. After a priceless moment when time seemed to stop Virgil nodded his agreement.

John grinned then with easy gymnastic skill jumped back up out of the trench, but on the opposite side to where Mobile Control was set up and the Thunderbirds were parked. It was on this side after all that the rim of the trailer was closest to the ground given the angle it was lying at. John moved as close to the trailer as he could, before squatting down and closing his eyes. Remembering what he had done before at the Australian refinery when he'd needed to use his strength he imagined a dial in his head labelled strength. Slowly he turned that dial up to maximum and immediately felt power surge through him. He opened his eyes again and – feeling his muscles virtually throbbing with superhuman power – reached out and slipped his hands into the small gap between the wall of the trailer and the ground.

With a soft grunt he started to pull the trailer into an upright position standing up as he did so. With a moan of metal and the thudding of items sliding around inside the trailer slowly moved into an upright position, with John taking almost all of the strain.

"Get him out now," John called to his brothers through gritted teeth. Even with the nanites making his muscles superhumanly strong John noticed the weight of the trailer and whatever was inside. Holding it up was going to take much more effort as time wore on and he didn't know how long he was going to be able to hold this thing. Whatever was inside made the trailer heavy and awkward to hold.

* * *

Hearing John's call Virgil exchanged a look with the just arrived Gordon. In unison they got to work. Carefully they slid the spinal board under Marcus and secured the terrified intern to it. As he worked Gordon noticed Marcus's legs and winced in sympathy. Both legs from the knee down looked to be badly damaged. There were obvious fracture points but here and there were some cuts but thankfully they were only oozing small amounts of blood, it wasn't coming out like a fountain. Obviously no major blood vessels had been severed; Marcus was in no danger of bleeding to death on them. Still it would be awhile before Marcus walked again.

"Right that's in place," Virgil said. "Let's get him into a stretcher."

Gordon nodded and from Virgil's emergency pack they took out the components for an antigrav stretcher and carefully fitted them together, before securing it to Marcus.

"Ready Marcus," Virgil asked.

"Yes," Marcus replied in his pain filled voice though it was slightly muffled by his breather mask. "Let's just get out of here please."

"No arguments there," Gordon commented as Virgil activated the antigrav stretcher. With a faint humming sound – that was almost lost in the near constant background rumbling of the eruption – the antigrav units activated and the stretcher rose off the ground. Carefully they guided the stretcher clear of the trailer.

"Clear," Virgil called out as they moved away from the trailer. As he spoke Gordon climbed up out of the gash and grabbed the stretcher, gently pulling it and Marcus up to surface level. Virgil followed immediately.

* * *

Hearing Virgil's call John sighed in relief and in a single fluid motion released the trailer and jumped back out of range. Instantly gravity reasserted its grip on the trailer and the large curved metal trailer and still off its centre of gravity it fell. Crashing onto its side again with a number of deep, clattering thuds. _That thing was heavy,_ John thought wiping some sweat from his forehead with his right forearm, _even with the strength the nanites give me it was heavy. What did they have in there? Lead weights?_

Closing his eyes again, John again found the strength dial and turned it back down to normal. As he felt the energy surge that had brought his super strength fade away he became aware of a slight lactic acid burn in his arm muscles. It wasn't much, certainly nothing like the burn he had felt after a heavy workout before the nanites got in him, but it was there. He guessed that holding up that trailer had actually stressed his altered muscles to a considerable degree. The slight burning was a surprising welcome reminder to him that despite his powers he was still at the end of the day a human being, an enhanced human but a human nevertheless.

John opened his eyes again and raised his watch and checked his energy levels. Tapping the strength of the nanites like that had cost him; one of the four green bars on the gage had gone dark, as had half of another one. The loss of energy wasn't that bad now that he thought about it, still energy drain was something he was going to have bare in mind whenever he did something major with his powers. John switched his watch back to normal mode and looked across towards the other half of the camp, it was almost impossible to see now. It was so dark and the ash fall was now so thick that seeing a few meters in front of his face was almost impossible. _We need to leave here now,_ John thought, _before Mount Baker decides to throw something a bit nastier than ash our way. Like a lava flow or a mudflow or worse._

John walked forward, coming around to the one side of the fallen trailer where he had a clear run to the other side. The only thing between him and their was the deep gash in the ground, but that would not be an obstacle. Backing up a bit, John took a few deep breathes, grateful that his breather unit prevented him from inhaling any of the potentially lethal grey snow falling from the sky. _Jumping this will be easy John,_ he told himself, _you did similar things in school on the gymnastics team and even without nanite assistance you're fitter now than you were then._

Without hesitation he ran forward as quick as he could without using his abilities again, at the last possible instance he jumped. For a moment he sailed through the air, easily clearing the gash in the ground, then he landed, taking the impact with bent knees. _Knew I could do it,_ he thought even as he looked around for Virgil and Gordon. After a moment he found them, almost lost by the ash that was falling all around and was already almost an inch thick on the ground.

"How is he," John asked as he walked up to where his brothers were carefully manoeuvring the antigrav stretcher towards the distant pool of light shining out from Thunderbird Two's open pod bay.

"Not to bad John," Virgil replied. "Marcus here is lucky, while he has crush injuries they're not life threatening." He looked down at Marcus. "You'll be right as rain in no time at all Marcus."

"If we can get out of here," Marcus answered weakly.

"Oh don't worry we will get out," Gordon said with a smile and putting every shred of confidence and reassurance that he had into that statement. "Won't we guys."

"Yes we will," John agreed. "The falling ash will not be an obstacle to us leaving Marcus. The engines on the Thunderbirds were designed to cope with such things." Marcus seemed to relax a little bit and John smiled. A moment before the ground shuddered underneath them again, with enough force that the three of them were thrown off there feet, simultaneously the roar of a powerful explosion – an explosion that sounded to be much closer than the summit crater – ripped through the air.

For a moment they found themselves pelted with small rocks and pebbles that were far to heavy to be any of the pumice that was falling amongst the ash. Then there was a sudden loud and powerful whooshing sound, mixing almost immediately with the crackle of fire. _Oh don't tell me,_ John thought getting back to his feet and turned towards the head of the valley where the crackling was coming from.

To see a short way up from where the valley narrowed into a ravine that went up the mountain a massive jet of molten rock was gushing from the side of the volcano. A substantial stream of rapidly moving superheated lava was already flowing away from the newly opened vent, following the lay of the land and coming right towards them. It would be in the camp in minutes. All around the searing, river trees were going up in flames, flames reaching the tops of the ancient cedar trees almost instantly. The forest around them – which had stood for centuries – was rapidly becoming an instant inferno.

"Oh no," Gordon said getting up and seeing the molten rock approaching. Flames were advancing ahead of it, jumping from tree to tree. The lava stream was beautiful in away, savagely beautiful, and for them potentially very lethal.

"Back to the 'Birds now," John instructed as Virgil got to his feet. Virgil took one look at the rapidly approaching lava stream and nodded.

"What about Mobile Control," Gordon asked as along with Virgil he grabbed Marcus' antigrav stretcher and started running across the slightly uneven ground back towards the two Thunderbirds were parked.

"There is no time to get it," John replied as he followed. "That lava flow is growing in strength all the time. It will be in this camp before I could even start disassembling Mobile Control. We have to leave it. I'm not looking forward to explaining it to Scott but there is no choice."

"He won't worry as long as we're all okay," Virgil pointed out knowing their older brother would be just happy that they all escaped Mount Baker with their lives. He wouldn't worry about the destruction of Mobile Control. "Brains can always build another one, he's been on about replacing the current one for months."

"That's true," John agreed as the crackling of the fire got worse. Glancing behind them John saw that the lava had reached the edge of the camp. It was slowing down a little though as the ground evened out a bit so it wasn't flowing down a steep gradient. _Good that buys us another couple of minutes to escape,_ he thought. "The lava's slowed down a bit but keep going," he said.

"F.A.B," Virgil and Gordon chorused in unison.

**

* * *

Thunderbird One**

**A Few Minutes Later**

John sighed in relief as he sat down in Thunderbird One's control seat. With a quick press of a button he closed and sealed the hatch, a moment before Thunderbird One's air frame vibrated as it was hit by the concussion wave of something outside exploding. _That doesn't sound good,_ he thought touching another control to turn on the external cameras and training them on the camp. Two of the five trailers were ablaze, the lava stream had grown in force to become a smashing, burning river of red hot molten material which was now as wide as the valley. On each side of the valley the trees were burning like Roman candles illuminating the scene even with the continuous heavy ash fall.

As John watched the leading edge of the lava flow reached the abandoned Mobile Control which had been set up only about ten meters from where Thunderbirds One and Two had landed. The seat he had been sat in earlier, instantly caught light, even as he observed Mobile Control beginning to melt, its outline blurring and dissolving like a ice cube being doused with hot water. The small fusion power cell in Mobile Control detonated as the lava burned its way through the delicate innards of the equipment, throwing burning debris into the air to fall back into the lava where it vanished in puffs of flame and smoke. Mobile Control was gone, erased from existence in less than ten seconds. _We better get a move on before the lava does the same thing to us,_ John thought a moment before the radio crackled to life with an audio only transmission.

"Thunderbird Two to Thunderbird One," Virgil said from the radio, like Gordon earlier his voice was badly distorted by all the electrical interference in the atmosphere which like Gordon made him sound like a Dalek over the radio not a human being.

"Go ahead Virgil," John replied.

"We're ready to depart John."

"F.A.B. Let's get out of here then before the lava flow reaches us and we go the same way as Mobile Control."

"F.A.B." The transmission cut off with a bleep and John manipulated the control levers. Thunderbird One's VTOL jets roared to life and the sleek rocket plane lifted in the air with surprising speed. It was almost as if Thunderbird One herself had decided that she wanted to get away from the lethal danger of the molten rock as quickly as possible. A glance at his sensor displays showed John that Thunderbird Two was lifting off as well, rising more slowly, but rising nevertheless.

In moments both machines had climbed high enough in the air that they were no longer in danger from the lava or from clipping there undersides on the burning trees. John sighed in pure relief that they were away from the lava though they weren't out of danger just yet. They would have to get well clear of the erupting volcano before they could really be considered safe. With a quick command he retracted the landing gear and shifted Thunderbird One's wings into flight configuration, while pushing the throttle forward. Thunderbird One's engines roared to life though a blinking warning light let John know that engine power was barely at forty percent, even with the ash filters the jet engines were having difficulty functioning correctly in this environment.

"Thunderbird One to Thunderbird Two," John said into the radio. "Virgil what's your engine power like?"

"Forty percent on all engines John," Virgil replied. "The ash filters are really having a hard time keeping the ash out. Let's get out of here before power drops too low to keep us in the air."

"F.A.B," John answered in agreement as he disengaged the VTOL jets and got Thunderbird One moving, heading along the quickest flight path out of the ash cloud from Mount Baker into clear air. _Phew that's over,_ John thought, _we've got the scientists safe. Now just have to drop them off at a hospital then fly home to Tracy Island. This mission will then be over and we can relax after some much-needed showers._


	22. Chapter 22: Not Over Yet

**Chapter Twenty Two: Not Over Yet**

**Thunderbird Five**

Alan sighed in relief when the sensors on one of the relay satellites designed to monitor the planet below, receive distress calls and relay to Thunderbird Five reported to him that Thunderbirds One and Two were coming out of the mushrooming ash cloud coming up from Mount Baker. _Thank God they're okay,_ he thought in relief; _I hate situations where we deal with volcanic eruptions. The loss of long-range communications means that we don't know what's happening. I'll give them a call in a moment but first lets see what else is going on._

He was about to start checking the rest of the relayed data when an alert flashed up on his screen. The smart filters built into the communications system had picked up something that needed immediate attention. Alan instantly turned his attention to the data and frowned when he heard that it was emergency communications traffic from the Fraiser Valley. The ash cloud from Mount Baker was still thin over the part of the valley where the signals were coming from, electrical disruption was far less so the weaker sensors and communications receivers on the relay satellites were not being disrupted. Yet anyway. Keying in a command Alan listened into the signals.

"….that's right sir," a female voice was saying. "Monitor stations in the Fraiser Valley have picked up multiple large mudflows coming down into the valley from Mount Baker. The eruption must have melted a large part of the glacier on the volcanoes summit. We estimate twelve minutes till they reach Abbotsford." _Ugh oh,_ Alan thought as he tapped into the transmission to speak to the emergency teams on the ground. History had shown that volcanic mudflows or to use their proper name lahar's could be big killers indeed because they mixed the fury of a flood with sucking, smothering hot mud. Alan pressed his transmission control.

"International Rescue to ground rescue teams. We have picked up your transmissions. Our people are still in the area do you require assistance," he said. For a moment there was silence and Alan grinned imagining that he had just given someone a hell of a surprise. Finally an audio only transmission came through.

"International Rescue my name is Walter Chelmsford I'm the FEMA deputy director in charge of the evacuation of Abbotsford and surrounding towns. Any assistance you can give us would be greatly appreciated," a powerful male voice responded.

"We will certainly try our best. How can we assist you?"

"I am sure you are aware of the eruption of Mount Baker, I believe you have been assisting some USGS scientists trapped there."

"Yes that is correct."

"Emergency monitoring stations near the mountain have picked up a number of large mudflows coming down the various river valleys from Mount Baker. Some of them are coming right towards Abbotsford. They will be here soon and sweep away everything in their path."

"I gathered as much," Alan answered. "What is the status of your evacuation?"

"All the outlying towns and villages around Abbotsford have been evacuated. But the evacuation of Abbotsford is only seventy percent complete, it will take at least another hour to get everyone out…"

"And the lahar's will reach the city long before that," Alan finished. "Alright we will do what we can to try and slow them down."

"That would be very much appreciated thank you."

"You're welcome. I will contact the others now."

"Alright International Rescue."

Alan grinned then changed frequencies on the communications panel while noting the course and speed of Thunderbirds One and Two. He noticed that neither was going at full speed as they headed towards Seattle to drop off the scientists. _Guess they're waiting for the ash filters to clear before they increase speed,_ he thought before hailing Thunderbird One.

"Thunderbird Five to Thunderbird One," he said. Almost immediately his communications screen came to life showing John's face and upper torso and Alan couldn't help but blink at how different John looked. John's normally blond hair and fair skin were a uniform dark grey from the ash fall from the erupting volcano, his uniform was even worse. The normally light blue uniform and lilac sash were almost black, they had gotten so dirty. _Someone definitely needs a shower,_ he thought.

"Before you say anything Alan I know I need a shower," John said before Alan could speak. "What can I do for you?"

"Bad news I'm afraid John," Alan replied. "Either you or Thunderbird Two needs to go back into the danger zone around Mount Baker." Despite his ash-covered features the frown that appeared on John's face was easy to spot, especially if you knew what you were looking for, like Alan did.

"Okay Alan. Why?" John asked.

"There are a series of lahar's travelling down the various river valleys from Mount Baker. The ongoing eruption has melted a large part of the glacier around the summit. One of the lahars is travelling down the Fraiser Valley towards the city of Abbotsford. The evacuation of the city is far from complete, the FEMA guy in charge reckons that they need another hour to complete evacuation. But they don't have that much time at its current speed the lahar will reach the city in ten minutes."

"I see. Okay Alan I'll take Thunderbird One back towards Mount Baker and head into the Fraiser Valley. I'll see what I can do to slow down that lahar."

"F-A-B, I'll let the FEMA people and Scott know what you're doing."

"F.A.B."

"Good luck John."

"Thanks Alan I'm going to need it," John replied before breaking the connection from his end. Alan looked at the blank screen for a moment before changing back to the frequency being used by the FEMA personnel evacuating Abbotsford again.

"International Rescue to FEMA Deputy Director Chelmsford," he said. For a moment there was no reply then the radio speakers crackled.

"Go ahead International Rescue. I hope you have some good news for me," Chelmsford's voice responded.

"I do," Alan replied. "Thunderbird One is returning to your area. Her pilot is going to attempt to slow down the approaching lahars. We can't stop them entirely but we can buy you some time, hopefully enough time for you to complete the evacuation."

"I see that will help a lot. Thank you."

"You're welcome," Alan replied then cut the transmission. His hands danced across the consoles surface as he opened a new communications channel, this one to home.

"Thunderbird Five to Tracy Island," he said into the microphone. Immediately the communications screen lit up showing Scott's face.

"Go ahead Alan," Scott said. "What's the latest?"

"Thunderbirds One and Two have left Mount Baker Scott and have cleared the ash cloud. My guess is Thunderbird Two is taking the survivors to the closest medical facility away from the fallout cloud but Thunderbird One has had to return to the danger zone."

"What for?" Scott asked.

"I've been monitoring the local emergency services communications. At least those that I can pick up the interference is getting worse as the eruption intensifies. I've spoken to the FEMA guy in charge of the evacuation of the city of Abbotsford and surrounding towns in the Fraiser Valley. The evacuation of Abbotsford is far from complete and there are lahars from Mount Bakers melting glacier coming down into the Fraiser Valley. John's going back to try and slow the lahars down."

"Lahars? What are they Alan," Tin-Tin asked as she appeared in the video feed.

"Volcanic mudflows Tin-Tin," Alan replied. "They're extremely hot and very destructive. They're basically a boiling flood that sweeps away everything in their path. If a major one hits Abbotsford before the evacuation is complete it could kill hundreds of people."

"I see. I hope John can stop them then."

"Nothing can stop them," Scott explained. "But John can try and block their path with small temporary dams if he get enough rocks into their path."

"Precisely. I'll continue to monitor the situation as well as I can from up here," Alan said.

"F-A-B, Alan. Keep me appraised of any developments."

"F.A.B," Alan answered with a smile before cutting the signal to the island and looking at the scanner tracking Thunderbirds One and Two again. Thunderbird One was just disappearing back under the edge of the ash cloud and sensor lock was becoming unsteady. _Good luck John,_ he thought.

**

* * *

Thunderbird One**

Carefully John guided Thunderbird One back under the still spreading mushroom cloud of ash and gas rising from the erupting volcano. He flew carefully to stay out of the worst of the fallout, even here some distance from Mount Baker the amount of ash coming down was still very intense, but he couldn't avoid it all. And there was another problem to contend with, another obstacle that the volcano had thrown his way.

Between the massive electrical storm ranging through the cloud, throwing massive forks of pure energy between different areas of charge, and the falling ash and cinders John found that Thunderbird One's sensors unreliable. Long-range scans were useless, even short range was disrupted and distorted. So he was having to fly carefully, guiding Thunderbird One through the maelstrom to her destination – the Fraiser River valley, less he crash into something that he couldn't see. _I hate these kinds of conditions,_ John thought, _and I know Scott does as well. We should talk to Brains see if he can come up with some sensors that can see through this kind of chaos._

He made a mental note to speak to Brains about it later, then put it out of his thoughts for now. He was going to need every bit of concentration and skill he had to reach his destination, somehow stop the lahar's and get out of the fallout zone without crashing into anything.

After a moment he crossed the last ridge and below him was the Fraiser Valley, here close to Mount Baker it was relatively narrow though it broadened out further down towards the towns and Abbotsford. With a flick of a switch John turned on Thunderbird One's searchlight and swept the valley below. The lahar was easy to spot, it was still up the valley from his current position but he saw it clearly even though the incredibly powerful search light kept glimmering constantly as ash fell through it. The lahar was a virtual wall of boiling, rolling water, mud, ash and rocks sweeping down the valley at very high speed toppling every tree in its path as it did so. Giant cedar trees that had stood proud and strong for centuries were being toppled like matchsticks so great was the flows awesome force.

Watching the mighty, ancient trees that even modern power saws found difficult to fell falling so easily under the power of the mudflow filled John with a profound sense of humility. And a realisation that compared to nature's power even the advanced technology of International Rescues was nothing. _How am I to even slow that thing down,_ John wondered, _that lahar is massive, the force of the flow enormous. Stopping it is impossible, so how to slow it down. Give the authorities time to complete the evacuation._ He pondered the problem for a few moments then smiled as an idea came to him. He could slow the flow down with a dam, it wouldn't hold against the flow for long, in fact the flow would probably go over the top of the dam but it would reduce the flows force considerably and trap much of the larger debris. _Just where to build a dam and how,_ he thought checking the sensors as he moved Thunderbird One further ahead of the flow.

A good place immediately presented itself, ahead the valley narrowed slightly before it broadened out again. On either side were almost vertical walls of rock, the incline too steep for any plants to latch onto. _A rockslide perfect,_ John thought even as he armed Thunderbird One's weapons systems and selected two missiles from the weapons inventory that appeared on one of the screens. Carefully John targeted what he estimated were the best spots on the rock face then taking a deep breath, and offering a prayer for success before he fired. A hatch opened in Thunderbird One's underside and two missiles dropped clear, immediately their engines flared to life and the smart weapons streaked away. Two powerful concussive explosions erupted moments later as the missiles impacted the rock face, the blasts momentarily blinding John to the effects.

As his vision cleared he saw cracks spreading across the near vertical walls of rock as the imparted energy from the missiles fractured the rocks along natural plains of weakness and faults between the different layers of rock strata. Small pebbles were falling free as in what seemed to be slow motion the rock face started to break up.

"Come on, come on," John said softly. "Do it. Fall."

After what seemed like an eternity though it was only a few minutes – the rock faces unable to withstand the sudden stress they were under and the pull of gravity collapsed. Instantly millions of tons of rock began falling from both cliffs slamming into the valley below creating a small earthquake even as they threw up a massive cloud of dust. John turned Thunderbird One's sensors on the valley floor, penetrating the dust cloud even as the avalanche of rock slowed then finally stopped.

The sensors revealed that a wall of rock twenty metres high now blocked the valley. Even as he watched the lahar reached the impromptu dam, a massive splash wave like an ocean wave breaking on the shore erupted as the flow of superheated mud, ash and log's hit the wall. When the splash wave cleared he could see that the lahar had been stopped. The dam of rock was holding against the immense pressure of the mudflow, the flow was pilling up against the dam and eventually would go over the top but not for awhile and when it did top the dam John knew its force would be radically reduced.

"Yes," John said, even as he released the breath he hadn't even been aware that he was holding. "It worked."

A sudden urgent bleeping from the sensors interrupted his euphoria and John turned his full attention to them and his blue eyes went wide in horror. There was the massive, glowing cloud known as a pyroclastic surge coming down the valley, travelling at terrifying speed. Speed that was being further increased by the fact that the surge was riding on the cushion of steam rising from the lahar. The sensors reported that the surge was travelling at over two hundred miles per hour.

And it was coming right for Thunderbird One.


	23. Chapter 23: A Close Shave

**Chapter Twenty Three: A Close Shave**

Seeing the boiling, burning wall of ash and gas surging down the valley towards him John was momentarily frozen in a mixture of horror and terror convinced he was seeing his death coming for him. He knew full well that if the pyroclastic surge hit Thunderbird One its immense temperatures and fury would destroy her and him, swatting them from the sky with even less effort than he would expend swatting a fly.

After a moment the paralysis lifted and John manipulated Thunderbird One's controls abandoning his stationary hover and starting to climb higher into sky. Going from what was basically a standing start Thunderbird One had no chance of outrunning the pyroclastic flow. It would take a few seconds too long for her to build up enough speed – given that the filters on the engine intakes still had to contend with the falling ash – to escape, his only chance was to try and get above the flow.

To John time seemed to stretch, each second seeming to take an eternity to pass, as Thunderbird One climbed sharply into the sky as the burning avalanche of the surge cloud bore down upon her. It seemed like a living, breathing thing the pyroclastic flow as it ate up the distance at extreme speed, a beast spawned in the very belly of the Earth that had its sights set upon consuming the normally mighty Thunderbird. John could feel sweat running down his face as Thunderbird One climbed. _Come on baby climb,_ he thought, _I know I'm not Scott but come on do it for me. Climb. Get us away from the danger._ The height indicator display numbers kept climbing as they rose seemingly in slow motion. _That's it! That's it! Come on._

They almost made it.

A moment before Thunderbird One had gained enough height to be safe from the lethal elemental force of the pyroclastic surge, the cloud raced past beneath her. A protruding section of the cloud, a boiling, burning cloud of gas and fine ash particles slammed into her underside. Thunderbird One bucked violently upwards her nose and bulk of her fuselage rising into the sky but her heavier aft section dipping partially into the flow. With a harsh shrieking sound of tearing metal the force of the pyroclastic surge ripped off one of the small stabilising fin sections around the aft section along with a few of the metal plates. Burning gases played over sensitive exposed systems like a blowtorch over ice crystals. A hydraulic line burst as the immense heat vaporised the fluid inside, while circuits and cables melted in the heat. Then Thunderbird One was clear of the flow as the remaining engines in the unaffected parts of the engine section pushed her clear of the flow, smoke and sparks spewed from her underside as wobbling and vibrating madly the mighty machine climbed away from the maelstrom.

Swearing and cursing in every language he knew John struggled with the madly vibrating controls to bring Thunderbird One back under control. An instrument panel in the cockpit exploded in sparks filling in the cockpit with a thin diffuse cloud of smoke, John paid it no mind as he fought to bring the damaged machine back under control, while being careful not to cause any additional damage with his nanite abilities. Finally he managed to bring the madly bucking aircraft back under control, though the teeth chattering vibration remained constant.

John was finally able to turn his attention to the instrument panels. A number of them had gone dark or were showing wildly adverse readings to normal, though what was especially worrying was the hydraulic pressure indicator. Pressure was way down to some of the control surfaces, though it was beginning to stabilise as the computer shut down the damaged hydraulic and fuel lines to the damaged engine and re-routed to the others to compensate. A damage schematic appeared on the main display screen and John groaned.

"Oh man Scott's going to kill me," John moaned aloud as he studied the damage schematic. The ventral aft stabiliser fin was gone, one of the main rocket jets was inoperative, its fuel feeds and control circuits vaporised, another was only operating at sixty percent capacity. A number of the control surfaces had been singed and were only partially functional, and a number of fuselage plates had been ripped away from around the engine block.

Carefully John tested the flight systems and sighed in relief when he found that almost everything was working, some sluggishly but they were working. He could still fly, with the skin of Thunderbird One compromised he couldn't fly at anywhere near full speed but he could still fly. _Okay first order of business, find out how far down the Fraiser Valley that pyroclastic surge got,_ John thought, as the ventilation system cleared the smoke from the cockpit.

Keeping his airspeed down to a cautious subsonic John began guiding Thunderbird One along the Fraiser Valley keeping a watchful eye on the sensors as they probed the ground below. What he saw below was a scene from hell, almost everything below was gone, all the trees had been flattened by the shockwave of superheated air travelling ahead of the surge cloud. Many of the trees were burning brightly or had already been reduced to charcoal that was almost indistinguishable from the steaming ash covered ground. The smoke from the burning trees mingling with the fine cloud of ash that was still blowing around or falling from the sky.

As he moved further down the valley from the volcano the destruction got overwhelming as the pyroclastic surge had lost energy. Eventually it stopped altogether at one of the small towns where the valley floor evened out further away from the still erupting Mount Baker. Every building in the town was ablaze, but John knew that there would be no casualties. The evacuation of the villages, towns and cities in the valley would have been phased, with those homes closest to Mount Baker being evacuated first.

Still the sight of the burning town saddened him greatly. Below him people's homes and dreams were being consumed by the inferno and would soon be reduced to nothing but smouldering rubble and agonised memories. Knowing that there were going to be a lot of tears from a lot of people at the news of town's total destruction made him wish he could do something about it. But Thunderbird One carried nothing capable of putting out the fires – a state of affairs that John knew Brains was constantly trying to resolve – but even if she had John knew that it would have done no good. There was nothing in the blazing town that would be worth saving now, everything would already have been destroyed or so badly damaged by fire that it would not be salvageable. Reluctantly John moved on heading further down the Fraiser Valley leaving the town behind him to burn.

* * *

**FEMA Control Post Abbotsford, **

**A Few Minutes Later**

Walter Chelmsford smiled in relief as he watched the last member of the last family left at this command/mustering point boarded one of the fleet evacuation buses. _Finally that's all of them,_ he thought. _We've got everyone out thanks to International Rescue stopping that lahar. Soon everyone is going to be safe and out of any possible danger. Though when they can come back is anyone's guess. That all depends on how long Mount Baker's eruption goes on for, how much ash it dumps on us._

Though they was some distance from Mount Baker significant quantities of ash were beginning to fall on Abbotsford, so far they'd only received a light grey dusting but the ash fall was getting heavier. Much heavier as the sky got darker and darker with the ever-increasing volume of pulverised rock particles in the cloud and the ever-spreading fallout cloud from the eruption. Walter wouldn't be at all surprised if places as far away as Seattle and Vancouver got a light dusting of the deceptively harmless looking grey ash.

After a moment Walter turned to one of his subordinates.

"Is that everyone," he asked.

"Yes, sir. All evacuation-gathering points report that all their vehicles are full. There is no one left the cities a ghost town. Thanks to International Rescue we've got everyone," his subordinate confirmed.

"Thank goodness for that. Okay send out the signal for all FEMA, National Guard and emergency service personnel to board the evacuation buses and trucks. It's time we all got out of here."

"Yes, sir." Walter smiled softly as the subordinate in question went to relay his orders. After a moment the sound of some kind of aircraft engines began to be heard. _International Rescue its got to be,_ he thought looking up. _Who else could fly an aircraft in the fallout cloud from an erupting volcano?_

He looked in the direction that the noise seemed to be coming from and sure enough, their almost invisible against the dark grey background of the fallout cloud, was the ultra-sleek form of one of International Rescue's mighty flying machines. Though he was no expert looking at her Walter was sure he saw signs of damage on her underside but couldn't be absolutely certain, he was no expert in such matters after all. After a second or two one of his other subordinates approached him.

"Sir the Thunderbird is calling us," she said. "Her pilot wants to know our status."

"I see," Walter replied looking at his subordinate. "I'll talk to them." As he spoke he headed inside the small motel room that had been set up as their field command centre. He was more than ready to give the good news that the evacuation was complete to the pilot of the International Rescue aircraft. Once that was done they would all be able to get out of here and let Mount Baker do its worst to Abbotsford and surrounding towns.

* * *

**Thunderbird One**

John waited patiently managing to keep Thunderbird One on an even keel for the FEMA director to respond to his hail. While stationary as he was at the moment the vibration from the damaged engine block was not too bad. It was still there but it was almost unnoticeable, it was only when Thunderbird One was moving that the vibration was teeth-chattering. _I'm lucky to still be flying,_ John thought, _I'll just have to put up with the vibration until I finally get home. Though then I'll probably end up facing hurricane Scott. Scott is going to be so ticked off when he sees the damage to Thunderbird One._

He was just contemplating what he could do, where he could disappear to on the island until Scott calmed down when the radio crackled to life with an audio only transmission. Though even that was distorted by the interference spawned by Mount Baker's ongoing major eruption.

"FEMA Field Control to Thunderbird One. FEMA Field Control to Thunderbird One," a powerful male voice said.

"This is Thunderbird One. Is that Director Chelmsford?"

"Yes it is. May I ask to whom am I speaking?"

"My name is John Director Chelmsford," John replied. "What is the status of the evacuation of Abbotsford?"

"We have completed the evacuation. In stopping that lahar you bought us the time we needed to finish. The last of the evacuation vehicles will be leaving the city shortly and we will be going with them. Thanks for the help stopping that lahar."

"Glad we could help. Do you require any further assistance?"

"Negative John. We're good."

"Understood. In that case I'll return to my base."

"Okay that's fine. Have a safe flight home and thanks again."

"Thank you. On behalf of International Rescue I say your welcome."

With that John broke the connection and took a deep breath before letting it out slowly. _Here we go,_ he thought, _time to head home and face the music._ Sighing in resignation knowing the Scott was almost certainly going to be major mad at him for Thunderbird One's condition, John got Thunderbird One moving on a course that would take her home.

* * *

**Thunderbird Five **

**Ten Minutes Later**

Alan sighed in relief when the sensor feed from the relay satellites reported Thunderbird One finally clearing the fallout cloud from Mount Baker. He had been worrying about John ever since he had been the one who had basically sent John back in there. Relief turned to confusion when he saw that Thunderbird One was travelling at barely Mach One. Even if the ash filters were partially clogged Thunderbird One should have been going faster than that. Confused and concerned his hands danced across the control panels in front of him.

"Thunderbird Five to Thunderbird One," he said. Immediately his communications screen lit up showing John's ash covered features.

"Go ahead Alan," John replied.

"Are you okay John? I've noticed that you're travelling much slower than normal for Thunderbird One."

"I'm okay but I can't say the same for Thunderbird One. We had a very close encounter with a pyroclastic flow and have sustained damage." Alan winced as John spoke; he knew that Scott was not going to like that. No he wasn't going to like it at all.

"How bad is it John?"

"Bad but could be worse. I've lost the ventral stabiliser fins and one of the rocket jets is out, its control circuits and fuel feeds vaporised."

"I see," Alan replied. "Something tells me that Scott is not going to be happy."

"Tell me something I don't know. Where's Thunderbird Two?"

Alan smiled, understanding that John didn't want to talk about the fact that he would probably soon be facing an angry Scott Tracy. It was understandable as Scott could be as intimidating as Dad when he wanted to be. Glancing at a side screen he noted the course and speed of Thunderbird Two.

"Thunderbird Two has left Seattle and is out over the Pacific Ocean John. Their on course for home. At your current speed I estimate that they will be home about an hour before you."

"F-A-B, Alan. Do me a favour will you and let everyone know why I'm taking my time coming home."

"F-A-B, John. Hopefully when they get back Virgil will be able to talk some sense into Scott so he doesn't bite your head off the moment you land."

"I hope so too Alan."

"Good luck on your flight John. If you want someone to talk to give me a yell. You know how boring it can get up here." John smiled slightly.

"Yeah I know. I'll bare that in mind Alan, thanks."

"You're welcome," Alan replied then broke the connection from his end before taking a moment to pause to collect his thoughts before operating the communications systems again. "Thunderbird Five to base and Thunderbird Two."

Instantly his communications screen came to life again with a split screen image. On one side he saw Virgil's face – which like John's was dark grey from Mount Baker's ash – on the other was Scott's face.

"Go ahead Alan," Scott said echoed a second later by Virgil.

"John's on his way home now," Alan said. "Thunderbird One has just cleared the fallout zone. But he's travelling slowly and before you ask why Thunderbird One has been damaged."

"Damaged! How?" Scott demanded to know.

"John didn't give me precise details as to what happened you will have to ask him yourself when he arrives Scott. But he said something about a close encounter with a pyroclastic flow that's caused considerable damage to Thunderbird One."

"I see. What about John?"

"He seems okay," Alan replied inwardly cringing at the thunderous look he could see coming into Scott's face. Hurricane Scott was starting to gather its force. "Scott will you please do me a favour."

"What's that Alan?" Scott asked.

"Please don't bite John's head off when he gets back. I know your 'birds been wounded but you can't take it out on John."

"I'll try not to Alan," Scott replied after a moment. "Keep me up to date with his progress will you."

"F-A-B, Scott."

"What time will Thunderbird One reach the island Alan," Virgil asked making a mental note to speak to Scott after he arrived. Like Alan he could see the storm building inside his older brother and like his baby brother he was going to have to do something to diffuse that storm before it had chance to break.

"She's only travelling at Mach One so about an hour after you arrive Virgil. Give or take a few minutes."

"F-A-B," Scott and Virgil replied in unison. Alan smiled and broke the connection before going over to the view port and looking out at space outside the station.

Below him he could see the perfect blue and green orb of the Earth. _Good luck with Scott John,_ Alan thought looking down at the planet below wishing he could see North America but he was on the wrong side of the planet at the moment for that. _You are probably going to need all the luck you can get as Scott's ticked off I could see it._

Alan sighed and walked away from the view port as he felt pangs of hunger in his stomach. He wouldn't want to be in John's shoes now; no he wouldn't want to be at all.


	24. Chapter 24: Facing The Music

**Chapter Twenty Four: Facing The Music**

**Tracy Island**

**A Few Hours Later**

Freshly showered and changed into normal clean clothes Virgil Tracy watched silently from one of the seats in the living room as Scott paced back and forth like a caged lion waiting for Thunderbird One to return. Virgil could tell that his one older brother was furious about the fact that his Thunderbird had been damaged; he could understand it he would be the same if Thunderbird Two was damaged. What he hoped though was that Scott didn't let his temper get the better of him. It wouldn't do anyone any good if Scott started to rip into John the moment John got back.

"Scott calm down," he said after a moment. Scott ignored him and continued his restless pacing, anger practically radiating from him. Virgil sighed and rolled his eyes. "Scott," he said more firmly. Scott froze in place and turned to glare at Virgil for interrupting his pacing.

"What is it Virgil?" he snapped. Virgil was not put off by his brother's tone of voice.

"I just wanted to remind you of what you promised Alan, that you wouldn't rip John's head off when he gets here," Virgil answered. "Because at the moment you look like you're more than willing to do just that."

Scott looked at Virgil for a few moments and didn't reply. Instead he looked away and resumed his restless pacing. But only for a few moments coming to the portraits on one wall he paused and looked at the portrait of John.

"I know I shouldn't be mad at him," Scott said. "John's our younger brother Virg, and it's not like he damaged Thunderbird One on purpose. So why am I angry? Why do I feel like I want to throttle him?" For a moment Virgil remained quiet, gathering his thoughts.

"Because Thunderbird One is yours," Virgil answered. "You're her primary pilot; she's your 'bird. Your baby and you care about her."

"You make it sound like she's alive."

"Well you have to admit that to us they are alive Scott," Virgil said with a smile. "To us the Thunderbirds are more than just extremely complex, highly advanced machines. They may have been just that when International Rescue first started but since then they've become something more than that to us. They've become something special, something we treasure deeply. We get angry when they get damaged, because inside we feel that a part of us has been damaged with them."

"You know Virg I think you're right there. Our machines have saved so many lives since we started, including our own many times that they're more than machines now. They're living things in a way. I'm angry with John because my 'bird is damaged and that he was flying her at the time. I know that I shouldn't be yet I am."

"I know you are. Maybe what you need to do here Scott is take a step back a minute. At the end of the day what are the Thunderbirds?"

"They're machines. Complex and highly advanced machines like you said but they are still machines."

"Yes. And what is John?"

"Our brother," Scott replied a sudden soft smile appearing on his face as he realised what Virgil was trying to do, trying to say. He could feel the venomous anger that had been building in him from the moment Alan had said that Thunderbird One was damaged begin to drain away. "At the end of the day he's more important than any of the Thunderbirds."

"Exactly, he's coming home alive, every bit as dirty and as me and Gordon were. He's probably going to tired as well and low on energy. But he's alive the damage to Thunderbird One – however bad it is – is nothing compared to that."

"You're right," Scott answered turning in place to look at Virgil and smiling silently thanking God that Virgil understood him so well and how he could be so wise at times. Especially when he needed to talk about something, even when he didn't admit that he needed to talk to himself. Still he could feel that the anger was there inside him, weakened but still smouldering, ready to be rekindled at any second. And Scott knew that he should not be here when Thunderbird One came in to land in another few minutes. "Thanks Virg. I shouldn't be here when John arrives. I need to work off some of this anger inside me. I'm going to go to the gym. Tell John when he comes in that I'll talk to him later."

"That would be for the best Scott. You go to the gym. I'll tell John when he gets here."

Scott nodded, before walking away out of the room to get into his workout clothes and head down to the gym. Virgil watched him go before standing up and going out onto the balcony to wait for Thunderbird One to arrive. _Not much longer till he gets here,_ he thought looking out at the ocean and the sun that was slowly sinking towards the horizon.

**

* * *

Thunderbird One**

**Five Minutes Later**

John smiled in relief when Tracy Island finally appeared on the horizon. _Almost home,_ he thought. The flight here had been so long and hard, especially as Thunderbird One had been vibrating the whole way. He'd thought the shuddering that Thunderbird Three went through during atmospheric re-entry was bad but that had nothing on the incessant vibration in Thunderbird One. _Boy will I be glad to get my feet back on solid ground,_ John thought even as he heard a soft warning bleeping coming from his watch.

It was the first time it had done that and John remembered that meant that his energy levels had dropped into the amber zone on the power gage. And now that he thought about it John noticed that he was beginning to feel weaker, it wasn't bad yet but he read the warning for what is was. He was going to have to eat soon. Though from experience he knew he had another hour to two hours before the energy drain became critical and life threatening. A period of time that now he thought about was getting longer and longer, the nanites were somehow holding onto their energy for longer or were getting more efficient with it. _I'll have to talk to Brains about it,_ he thought, _the nanites inside me are biomechanical after all so they're partially organic. Maybe the organic part of them is changing somehow._

John put the thoughts of the nanites out of his mind for now; instead he concentrated on the upcoming task of landing Thunderbird One. The island now dominated the horizon ahead of him soon he would be over the villa, then he would have to get Thunderbird One vertical in order to land. Normally that would be relatively easy, but with the control surfaces damaged it was going to just that little bit more difficult. It was going to take all his concentration and skill to land safely.

After a few more minutes that seemed to fly past at the speed of light, John found himself over the villa. The swimming pool had slid back under the surrounding sundeck area, exposing the launch/landing silo for Thunderbird One. _Here goes nothing,_ John thought as he carefully manoeuvred the damaged Thunderbird into the correct vertical position to land.

**

* * *

Tracy Villa**

Virgil watched from the balcony as Thunderbird One came into land. As she moved into vertical position to descend into the silo her underside and the damage to it became readily apparent. Virgil winced at what he saw.

The entire underside of Thunderbird One was scorched; some of the paintwork completely burned away, and from the discolouration of the bare metal Virgil wouldn't be at all surprised if there was some structural weakening in those fuselage plates. But the worst damage was to the drive section which looked like someone had bitten a chunk out of it. Where the ventral stabiliser fin had been there was now a gaping hole whose edges were smooth from where the metal had melted. A number of panels immediately around that area had been ripped clean off, the sensitive innards of that part of the engine exposed and now all scorched and burned out. _What a mess,_ Virgil thought shaking his head knowing that Thunderbird One was going to need some major repair work.

Seeing the extent of the damage Virgil shuddered as the realisation of how close Thunderbird One had come to being destroyed, how close they'd come to loosing John, dawned on him. As it was John had escaped and it was a testimony to his skills as a pilot that he had been able to bring the badly damaged Thunderbird One home in one piece. _She must have been vibrating badly the whole time from the moment she was damaged,_ he thought, _even Scott would be hard pressed to handle her in that kind of condition._ A roaring sound caught his attention, and he looked back at Thunderbird One to see her remaining engines were firing as she began her descent into the silo.

Virgil quietly turned and went back inside to wait for John to emerge from Thunderbird One back into the villa.

**

* * *

Five Minutes Later**

John cautiously gripped the light fixtures and braced himself as the panel he was leaning against began rotating, taking the view of Thunderbird One's main bay out his sight and replacing it with the familiar living room of the villa. Stepping away from the wall he half expected to be faced with an annoyed Scott sitting in their father's place of power behind the desk.

But there was no sign of Scott. In fact the only one here was Virgil who smiled warmly at John.

"Welcome back John," Virgil said in greeting. "I expect that you're as desperate for a shower as me and Gordon were when we got back."

"Oh you can bet on it Virg," John replied. "Where's Scott? I expected him to be leaping down my throat the moment I came out of Thunderbird One." Virgil chuckled.

"I spoke to him," Virgil answered. "He's not going to have a go at you. He's gone to the gym to calm down a bit. He'll talk to you later."

"I see. Okay I'm going to go and have a shower Virgil, though my watch bleeped at me on the way in so I better have something to eat."

"I'll ask Kyrano to do something for you John," Virgil replied. "He'll have it ready for when you come out of the shower."

"Okay Virg thanks." Virgil just smiled in reply, John grinned back then he turned and walked away heading through the villa towards his bedroom and a much wanted, much need shower.

**

* * *

John's Room**

**One Hour Later**

John looked up from the book he was reading in the light of the slowly setting sun streaming in through the windows as his enhanced hearing picked up the sound of footsteps approaching his room. He recognised the sound and rhythm of the footsteps as belonging to his oldest brother. Scott was coming this way, and from the sound of his footsteps he was walking a purposeful but not angry fashion.

After a moment the footsteps came to a stop, John put his book down on his desk and waited for the inevitable knock at the door. He guessed that Scott was probably nerving himself up to knock, John could understand why. He knew that this conversation was probably going to be a difficult one. After a moment the knock finally came.

"Come in Scott," John called out. The door opened and Scott came into the room.

"How did you know it was me John," Scott asked as he closed the door behind him.

"I recognised the sound of your footsteps." Scott smiled. John had always been good at doing that, recognising people by the sound of there footsteps. Even before the nanites got inside him his hearing had been extremely good.

"It's amazing how you do that John," Scott said. "How you've always been able to recognise people by the sound of their footsteps." John shrugged.

"It's nothing special," John replied. "I guess you want to talk about what happened out on the mission, with Thunderbird One getting damaged."

"Yes," Scott answered. "I'm not mad, at least not now. Virgil really has the knack for helping me put things in perspective. I'm just glad that you're okay John. Thunderbird One doesn't really matter compared to that. I just want to know what happened after Alan sent you back under that ash cloud to stop that lahar." John sighed softly.

"Sit down Scott it's a bit of a story." Scott nodded and sat down on the bed facing John. As soon as he was comfortable he looked at John and for a moment two pairs of blue eyes met.

"What happened out there John," Scott asked at last. John sighed softly before starting on his tale.

"Alan sent me back under the fallout cloud to stop a lahar as you know," John said. "Man it was difficult flying under there. Between the falling ash and the lightening Thunderbird One's sensors were almost completely blind. I could barely see where I was going it was so dark and the sensors were so mucked up. We really should have a word with Brains about coming up with a modification to the sensors to see through that kind of interference."

"You won't get any argument from me about that," Scott agreed. "Those conditions – like storms – are very difficult to fly in. Sensors capable of seeing through it would be a godsend. Continue with your story John."

"Okay Scott. It took awhile given the conditions but I found my way to the Fraiser Valley. It didn't take long to find the lahar and get ahead of it. Damn Scott that thing was a monster. It was just sweeping away everything in its path. Anyway I located a place where I could block its path. I fired two missiles at some rock faces triggering a landslide that blocked the valley. It stopped the lahar alright. But I guess that at the same time part of Mount Baker's eruptive column must have collapsed. Because next thing I knew there was a massive pyroclastic surge coming right at me.

"I pulled up hard but Thunderbird One wasn't quite fast enough going from basically a standing start. Part of the cloud caught the underside and it struck like a hammer, knocked Thunderbird One completely off axis. The drive section dipped down and part got caught in the edge of the flow. There was absolutely nothing I could do to prevent it, it happened so fast. I'm sorry Scott." Scott shook his head.

"Don't apologise John," Scott said. "From what you've told me there was nothing you could have done to prevent what happened. If anyone should apologise it should be me, from the moment Alan said about Thunderbird One being damaged to when Virgil and me spoke I wanted to throttle you. That was wrong and I'm sorry."

"It's okay Scott," John replied. "I understand."

"No it's not okay. I was angry about the damage to an inanimate machine when what I should have been was thankful that you managed to escape unharmed," Scott answered. "But I wasn't it hardly entered my mind all I could think about was that my 'bird had been damaged while you were flying her. And that you would pay for it, for letting her get damaged. How selfish does that make me? How screwed up have I allowed my priorities to get?"

As he said the last two sentences John could see anger, shame and self-loathing come into Scott's blue eyes which were every bit as expressive as his own. Inwardly John sighed knowing that Scott was going to be mentally beating himself up over this, over how he'd felt for sometime to come. He would be doing it until he felt that he had done something to correct his perceived failing, when as far as John was concerned Scott hadn't failed, hadn't done anything wrong. He'd just been what he was, what everyone was at the end of the day. They were all flawed, imperfect human beings.

"It's not selfish Scott. It just shows that you're human," he said standing up and moving to cross the short distance between himself and Scott. Before he had even taken half a step he stumbled as a strange wave of dizziness rippled through his head. Scott looked at him in concern.

"John what's wrong," Scott asked.

"I don't know I just felt dizzy there for a second." Scott frowned.

"Are you low on energy?"

"No I ate some sandwiches and a protein bar half hour ago," John answered a moment before a sharp pain erupted from somewhere deep inside him, spreading to infect his whole body with agony. Groaning John doubled over in pain, suddenly uncomfortable heat and nausea joining with the pain.

"John what is it?" Scott said jumping to his feat and moving over to John, a look of alarm on his face. John looked up at him his face caked in sweat, skin flushed red and features contorted in pain.

"I don't kn…" John's voice trailed off as his eyes rolled back in his head and he lost consciousness. He would have collapsed to the ground if Scott hadn't quickly caught him.

Grunting under the deadweight of his brother's unconscious body Scott moved John onto the bed. John was so tall that it was easy to forget that he was actually one of the heaviest of them weighing two hundred and twenty pounds and most of that being lean muscle. Right now though Scott noticed every pound of it as he moved John onto the bed, before looking him over worriedly, John looked sick, really sick. The last time he had seen John like this was just after the nanites got in him when they had been starting to integrate themselves with John's bodily systems. _The nanites,_ Scott thought, _something must be very wrong with them._

Raising his wristcom he sent a general call on the local, island only frequency.

"Medical emergency John's room," he said before lowering the wristcom to race into the en suite bathroom to wet a flannel. He wondered what was wrong with the nanites now, and what could they do about it.


	25. Chapter 25: Evolution Part One

**Chapter Twenty Five: Evolution Part One**

**Sick Room**

**Tracy Island**, **A Few Minutes Later**

Scott looked down worriedly at where they had laid John out on the diagnostic bed after himself and Virgil had rushed him here from his bedroom. John was completely unresponsive to them, his eyes didn't even react to light when Virgil shone his pen torch in them he was so deeply unconscious. His skin was no longer flushed but now almost deathly pale and clammy from the fact that John was sweating streams.

"What happened to him Scott," Virgil asked not looking up from the other side of the bed where he was also looking worriedly at John.

"I don't know Virgil," Scott replied. "One minute we were just talking; then all of a sudden he went dizzy before suddenly doubling in intense pain. Then he blacked out. It's the nanites it has to be, but what's up with the things now."

"I don't know. Hopefully Brains will be able to tell us when he gets here. Gordon went to get him."

"Where is Brains anyway?"

"He was in Thunderbird One's silo assessing the full extent of the damage caused by John's close encounter with that pyroclastic flow. Its pretty bad, John was lucky to escape from the looks of the damage Thunderbird One came within a hairs breadth of being destroyed as it is she's going to be out of action for a few weeks."

"It's that bad?"

"Put it this way Scott it looks like someone took a bite out of the drive section from where the ventral stabiliser fin was ripped off and incinerated by the fury of the flow. It's a miracle the superheated gases didn't reach the main fuel lines, if it had gotten those…" Virgil's voice trailed off and he shuddered at the thought of what would have happened. Thunderbird One had two fuel sources one for the conventional jets another for the rocket jets, both were extremely flammable. If even one had ruptured and the fuel caught then Thunderbird One would have exploded with the force of a small nuclear blast.

"You did have to say that didn't you," Scott said shuddering as well realising exactly how close he had come to loosing one of his brothers. "I'm just glad John escaped that fate. Though I wish I knew what's wrong with him now."

"You and me both Scott," Virgil answered. "But we have to wait for Brains. Has there been any contact from Dad while we were out on the rescue. I didn't ask earlier it slipped my mind."

"No. But you know Dad; he'll be buried in the task of trying to keep that defence contract and throttling the people who messed up in the first place," Scott replied. "Though he will probably hear about the rescue on the news, so we can expect an interrogation later as he'll want to know everything."

"No doubt," Virgil agreed. "While we wait for Brains to get here we should scan John to see if we can find out what the problem with the nanites is."

"You're right. Can you operate the diagnostic bed with those bio-scanner attachments Brains put in to scan for the nanites Virg?"

"Yes I can," Virgil replied moving over to the diagnostic beds control console and powering up the unit, going through the menu's for the various different scanning options before locating the program for the bio-scanner units that Brains and Gordon had managed to connect to the diagnostic bed. Brains had improved the connections so they looked less jury-rigged than they had done before. Activating the program Virgil turned to look at the diagnostic bed with Scott as the diagnostic bed began its work.

Slowly the translucent green energy beam stretching between the individual bio-scanner units on each side of the diagnostic bed began to probe John right down to the sub molecular level. As the bio-scanners began moving slowly along the tracks running down the side of the bed the door to the sickroom open and Brains came running in with Gordon and Tin-Tin just behind him.

Had the situation been slightly different Scott would have been amused by the state he could see Brains in; the technical genius was wearing a set of bright orange coveralls. Tin-Tin was as well from where they had both been checking over Thunderbird One. Both sets of coveralls were dirty, covered in a mixture of oil and ash particles which presumably had come from the inside of the damaged Thunderbird One.

"W…w…what h…h…happened to John Scott," Brains asked.

"I don't know Brains," Scott replied. "We were talking when he suddenly doubled over in pain before collapsing. I only just caught him before he hit the floor."

"We think that something is wrong with the nanites Brains," Virgil added. "That's what we're checking at the moment."

"A l…l…logical a…a…assumption Virgil," Brains agreed moving around the diagnostic bed to the control console to wait for the diagnostic scan to complete and for the computer to analyse the data.

After two minutes the bio-scanners completed their scan and the computer began its analysis. Brains read the data as it appeared on the screens and his eyes went wide. _What in the world,_ he thought frowning at the information displayed on what the nanites were doing, _what are they doing?_

"Brains," Scott prompted. The look on Brains face had him concerned as it was perfectly obvious that the nanites were doing something that Brains had not anticipated, which was worrying even though Brains - like all of them - was still new to the nanite technology.

"T…t…the nanites in John are b…b…behaving in a very s…s…strange way," Brains said. "They a…a…appear to be c…c…changing."

"Changing," Gordon exclaimed. "How they're machines they can't change! And into what are they changing? What will that do to John?"

"The n…n…nanites are not strictly m…m…machines Gordon," Brains replied. "They are b…biomechanical organisms, meaning they are p…p…part machine, part living o…o…organism. It is theoretically p…p…possible that they could change."

"That's fascinating Brains but how are they changing? And what are they doing to John now," Virgil said.

"The organic part of e…e…each nanite a…a…appears to be altering, becoming more e…e…efficient at what it does. The c…c…change is spreading out nanite to nanite from the c…c…core of John's body. The already c…c…changed nanites appear to be subtly c…c…changing the structure of the p…p…parts of John's body that they are merged with as w…w…well as altering the way they interact with it. What the change will do I do not know."

Without speaking Scott, Virgil and Gordon all looked worriedly at John's unconscious form all wondering and worrying about what the nanites could be doing to him now. John had only just gotten used to what the nanites had already done to his body, they didn't know if he would be able to cope with anymore changes.

"Is there any indication of how long these changes are going to take Brains," Scott asked breaking the uncomfortable, moody silence that had fallen on the room. Brains shook his head.

"I'm a…a…afraid not Scott. The change is a…a…accelerating but how l…l…long it will take to c…c…complete I do not know," Brains said unhappily looking down at John and wishing there was something he could do about what was happening to him. But there wasn't anything he could do, though his understanding of the technology in the nanites was growing there was still so much that he did not yet understand. Though as his understanding grew so did his admiration for whatever genius it was who had come up with the nanites, he or she was brilliant. Someone he would desperately like to meet so he could just talk with them about any science related subject, it was so rare for him to encounter anyone whose intelligence matched his own.

"It's okay Brains," Scott replied then looked up at his two other earth side brothers. "Someone should stay here with him for awhile at least till he wakes up."

"We should take it shifts," Virgil agreed. "As we don't know how long John is going to be out for this time. One of us could sit here with him for an hour or two then someone else sit with him. I'll take first watch."

Scott started to open his mouth to reply when a buzzing alarm sounded throughout the villa complex, an alarm to indicate that a call was being received on the vidcom. _That is almost certainly going to be Dad,_ Scott thought with a soft.

"Now I wonder who that is," Gordon said sarcastically as like Scott he knew that the person calling them was almost certain to be none other than Jeff Tracy.

"Dad most likely," Scott replied. "All right Virgil you stay here and watch John while I go and talk to Dad."

"Okay Scott. Thanks." Scott smiled back then turned and left the sickroom to head to the living room. Gordon took a long last look at John then left following Scott.

"Virgil m…m…me and Tin-Tin are g…g…going to head back to Thunderbird One," Brains said. "If John's condition c…c…changes give us a c…c…call."

"I will Brains don't you worry about that," Virgil replied as he grabbed a chair and brought it next to the diagnostic bed before sitting down. Brains and Tin-Tin quietly turned and left the room, leaving Virgil and John alone. Virgil barely noticed them leave; the greater bulk of his attention was focused on John's unconscious form. _What's happening inside you bro,_ he thought, _what are those nanite things doing to you now._

**

* * *

Living Room**

Scott arrived in the living room just as the vidcom unit beside his father's desk signalled for attention again. _Coming, coming,_ Scott thought walking over to the unit and pressing the button to answer the call. The unit's small circular plasma screen came on and Scott was not at all surprised when he saw that the caller was his father.

"Hi, Dad," Scott said in greeting. "How are things going in New York?"

"Hello son," Jeff replied warmly smiling at his oldest son. Though he would deny it if asked Scott as his first born had a special place in his heart, all they boys had their own special places. "Things are going okay here. I believe I've managed to keep that defence contract though I have to go to the Pentagon in Washington to meet with the head of the joint chiefs in the morning to confirm it."

"That's good news Dad," Scott replied. "By why do I get the feeling that's not the reason why you're calling."

"You're right its not," Jeff answered turning serious. "I've been watching the news casts about the eruption of Mount Baker that is now raining ash down on both Seattle and Vancouver. I heard you went out there. What happened?"

"Well I didn't go personally. John piloted Thunderbird One this time." Jeff frowned slightly when Scott spoke; there was something in his voice when he spoke about John. Something that set alarm bells ringing in Jeff's head.

"Has something happened to John Scott," Jeff demanded priorities instantly changing as the curious supreme commander of International Rescue was shoved in a box out of the way replaced by the concerned father.

"I'm afraid it has Dad. John's currently out cold in the sickroom."

"What! What happened?"

Despite the situation Scott had to work hard to hide a sudden grin at the commanding tone of his father's voice. It was almost the same as the tone he used when giving an order, though at the moment it was tempered by concern. As calmly as he could Scott explained what had happened. How himself and John had been talking, though he left the topic they'd been discussing out - there would be time to tell Dad about Thunderbird One getting damaged later. How their talk had been interrupted by John suddenly doubling over in pain before collapsing unconscious. How they'd rushed him to the sickroom and what Brains had found was happening with the nanites that had become a fundamental part of the way John's body functioned.

"And no one has any real clue as to what the nanites are actually doing to John now," Jeff said a worried frown on his face.

"No Dad we don't," Scott replied. "We certainly can't stop whatever it is they are doing to him. All we can do is wait. Wait and see what happens."

Jeff sighed on the other end of the link and in his expression Scott could see that his father was not happy with that answer. Not happy at all. But that he knew that it was the only thing they could do. Even with the data Alan had retrieved for them the nanites were still a new technology to them, a technology that they still didn't fully understand. Plus there was the fact that John was actually the first human being to actually be augmented by the nanites, all the data they had been theoretical and based more on computer simulations the scientists in Nevada had run and there was a world of difference between a computer simulation and a real living person.

"I know Scott, I know," Jeff answered at last. "But that doesn't mean that I have to like it."

"None of us are happy with it Dad," Scott replied. "Though I haven't told Alan what's going on with John yet. I'm not looking forward to telling him either." Jeff nodded.

"This would have to happen now," Jeff said with a sigh. "I can't get out of tomorrows meeting with Admiral Hayden now no matter how much I might want to. Why did it have to happen at all? Haven't the nanites done enough to John already?"

"I wish I knew Dad," Scott answered.

"I know Scott. I know you can't provide any answers because there are none to provide. Keep me up to date with John's condition will you Scott. If anything changes don't hesitate to call me regardless of what time of the day it is. If you have to wake me up to tell me then wake me up."

"Sure thing Dad."

"I have to leave now Scott or I'll be late for a dinner meeting," Jeff said looking and sounding very reluctant to break off communication but accepting that he had to.

"Okay Dad. Have fun and try not to worry too much about John."

"I'll try Scott, I'll try," Jeff answered then broke the connection from his end.

"Guess you better tell Alan now Scott," Gordon said.

"While I'm in here you're right I should. Though I'm dreading telling him, because I know that he's going to be feeling even more helpless than the rest of us."

"Because he's stuck up in Thunderbird Five."

"Exactly," Scott said as he sat down at the desk and manipulated the controls there. "Base calling Thunderbird Five. Base calling Thunderbird Five respond please." Immediately Alan's portrait changed to a live feed of the youngest of the Tracy's.

"Go ahead Scott what's up?" Alan said a note of confusion in his voice as it was obvious he hadn't been expecting anyone to call him tonight other than Tin-Tin for their normal evening talk. The look of confusion on Alan's handsome baby face gave way to concern when he saw the expression on Scott's face. "Something's happened hasn't it?"

"I'm afraid so Alan. John's in the sickroom again."

"What! Why is he in the sickroom again Scott? Has something happened with the nanites?" Scott sighed and began his explanation again.

**

* * *

Jeff's Hotel Room**

**New York Hilton, That Same Time**

Jeff Tracy sat at the desk for a moment in the luxurious hotel room he was staying in looking at the face of his wristcom which was a normal watch again. His mind awhirl with conflicting emotions, conflicting thoughts. He wanted to head home right now, head to his sons bedside but he couldn't. Because of some idiots foul up he couldn't go home, he was going to have to go to the Pentagon instead and tonight he had this dinner meeting with the CEO's of some of his companies suppliers who had jumped on the chance to speak to him in person when they'd heard he was here in New York.

With a sigh Jeff stood up and went to put on his dinner jacket, the Tracy Industries limo he'd ordered to take him to the dinner meeting would be here in a few more minutes. He put it on in a robotic fashion moving on automatic pilot more than conscious direction; his conscious thoughts were all about John, wondering what the nanites were doing to him now. _Please be okay John,_ he thought, _whoever is listening please don't let the nanites do anything bad to him. I couldn't bear to loose one of my boys, I just couldn't._

With a sigh and feeling the burdens of responsibility to his family and company pressing down on his shoulders Jeff left the hotel room to go downstairs to meet the limo. Tonight and tomorrow were going to really hard for him now that he knew something was once again wrong with John. He was going to worry every minute until he was back on the island with him, but he would have to manage it as best as he could and not let his emotions cloud his judgement. Too many jobs were relying on him keeping this contract, he couldn't allow emotion or personal needs to cloud his judgement less they lead him to make a mistake. But it was going to be difficult to do that. Very, very difficult indeed.

**

* * *

Thunderbird Five**

**Ten Minutes Later**

Alan broke the communications link with Tracy Island and walked over to the view port on the other side of the space stations control room. Like his father in New York his thoughts were completely dominated by concern for John and worry about what the nanites could be doing to him now.

Looking out the port at the planet rotating lazily below Thunderbird Five Alan found that for the first time he hated the view. Not for the first time he felt isolated, cut off up here on this space station. It was a feeling that of his whole family only John could really share, really understand. A feeling of frustrated helplessness that was only made worse at times like this. Scott had promised to keep him informed of any developments and Alan knew his oldest brother would do it but it wasn't the same. He wanted to be down there on Earth besides John's bed waiting for his brother to wake up. _What are those things doing to you now bro,_ he thought suddenly fearing that he might never see John alive again, fearing that the nanites could be killing him without them knowing it. _Please be okay John. Please, please be okay._


	26. Chapter 26: Evolution Part Two

**Enhanced**

**Chapter Twenty Six: Evolution Part Two**

The return to consciousness was a slow, surreal process. Slowly he began to rise out of the deep, silent dark place into which he had fallen when that strange, terrible pain had struck. He began rising along what seemed like a long tunnel towards a distant point of light. The light that he somehow knew represented the conscious world.

The journey up the tunnel to consciousness was not easy; the whole thing seemed to be filled with banks of mist of different densities and thickness ranging from a thin easily penetrated mist to a mist thicker than cotton wool. He drifted slowly down the tunnel for what seemed like ages, though he wasn't even conscious of the passage of time. All he knew was that around him the tunnel began getting brighter, the darkness fading away first being replaced by shades of grey mist, and then finally the all encompassing bright light of consciousness enveloped him.

A soft gasp was drawn from John Tracy's lungs as his mind finally reconnected with his body. Sensations flooded back in upon him with breathtaking suddenness that almost sent him back into unconsciousness from the shock of it. Slowly John opened his eyes and immediately closed them again with a soft groan as the bright sunlight of morning sent white hot needles of pain stabbing along his optic nerves into his brain.

As the pain faded away John became aware of a strange feeling throughout his body, a feeling that something had changed. Accompanying the strange new feeling was the feeling of strength and perfect health that he had more or less become accustomed to, but even that was different somehow to what it had been before. _What have the nanites done to me now,_ John wondered with a mental sigh before slowly opening his eyes again. Thankfully this time there was no pain from the bright sunshine filling the room, the nanites automatically adjusting his vision to the brighter light. A soft sound caught his hearing, a sound like someone snoring softly. Sitting up in bed John looked around and blinked when he saw that he was in the sickroom. _The sickroom! How did I get here? The last thing I remember was that pain as I spoke to Scott,_ he thought then realised that his brothers had moved him here after he'd done his dying swan act.

Looking to the right he saw the source of the snoring sound. Scott was fast asleep in a chair next to his bed and snoring softly in his sleep. From the looks of him he had been their all night. _Why am I not surprised,_ he thought smiling as he heard Scott snore again, _and he says he doesn't snore._ Still smiling he moved the bedclothes off himself and swung his legs over before standing up. Gently he reached out to shake Scott's shoulder but instead even the gentle force he used sent the chair and Scott crashing over onto its back, eliciting a yelp from Scott as the impact jolted him awake.

John stared in disbelief at what he'd just done. _I know the nanites have made me superhumanly strong but I wasn't using my strength then,_ he thought then noticed his still extended arm, or rather the way the light blue pyjama's he was wearing hugged tight to his arm when they had before been somewhat loose fitting and now that he thought about it he realised that the rest of his pyjama's were fitting him tightly as well. _What, what's happened to me,_ he thought, _what have the nanites done now?_ Looking down ignoring the swearing he could hear coming from the direction of the chair he gasped at what he saw. His body had changed; somehow while he'd been unconscious his muscles had grown. He could clearly see where his chest muscles especially were pressing softly against the soft fabric of the pyjamas. _Whoa,_ he thought a moment before a startled gasp made him look up to see that Scott was on his feet and staring at him a look of shock on his handsome face.

Shaking the stars from his head after his very sudden awakening Scott awkwardly climbed to his feet. That was not a wake up call he was going to forget in a hurry, suddenly getting brought out of a very nice dream by the back of the chair hitting the floor.

Scott looked in the direction of the bed and gasped in shock when he saw that not only was John awake and on his feet but his body had overnight undergone a dramatic transformation. He looked mostly the same but the way his pyjamas were fitting showed Scott clearly that John's body had undergone a big change. John wore large pyjamas because he was so tall, the tallest of all the Tracy family, but he was slim and lithe though even without the nanites he had been as fit and as strong as the rest of them. Normally because he was so slim the pyjamas hung loose on his body but they didn't any longer, instead they hugged close to his skin. John now sported a physique that resembled a professional male gymnast in its size and obvious muscular development yet also in the way that it was sleek and agile designed for a perfect balance of strength and flexibility.

At that moment John looked up and Scott saw on his face that John was as startled by his body's transformation as he was.

"Morning John," Scott said. "Welcome back to the land of the living. That was some wake up call."

"Morning Scott," John replied. "Sorry I didn't do that on purpose, I only wanted to shake your shoulder I didn't realise that the nanites have changed me some more. Have you been there all night?"

"Looks like it. I was only going to sit with you for a short while before turning in for the night. I must have fallen asleep in the chair without realising it. How are you feeling John? You gave us all a hell of a scare."

"You're not on your own Scott. When that pain came it was…" John's voice broke off and he shuddered at the memory of that strange, terrible pain that had come from deep inside him as the nanites has begun altering him some more. "As for how I feel now I feel fine, better than fine actually. I do feel a little odd but I think the reason for that is pretty obvious now."

"I believe that you are right," Scott replied with a smile. "You do look really good John. Everyone is sure going to get a surprise when they see you. Not to mention be very relieved that the nanites haven't harmed you given we weren't exactly sure what the nanites were doing to you. All we knew for sure was that the nanites were changing, their biological component altering into a new form. Still to be safe I think we should scan you again."

"Though I don't like how that thing feels I believe you are right Scott," John answered. "Though first thing I'm going to go have a shower and get dressed." Scott grinned.

"That sounds like a very good idea," he agreed wanting his own shower. "After that we can all gather for breakfast then come back here and see if we can find out what exactly the nanites have done to you now. Somehow John I think them suddenly giving you bigger muscles is only the tip of the iceberg."

"You're definitely right there Scott," John replied moving away from his older brother towards the entrance to the sickroom. "Whatever it is they've done to me altogether we'll find out and learn to live with it."

"Yes we will," Scott agreed. _Because we have no other choice,_ he thought to himself as he followed his taller and now bigger younger brother out of the room into the rest of the Tracy Villa.

**

* * *

Dining Room**

**A Short Time Later**

Freshly showered and changed into clean clothes John arrived in the dining room to see everyone who was on the island was here already and talking amongst themselves. John smiled at the very normal breakfast scene, the only things missing was the presence of their father reading a newspaper and Grandma.

"Morning everyone," John said in greeting. Conversation instantly cut off and everyone turned to look at him, their looks ones of complete surprise – except for Scott of course as he already knew about his change. John couldn't help but fidget mildly uncomfortable under the amazed glances of everyone in the room.

"Wow John look at you," Gordon said awe in his voice as he eyed the way John's clothes hung tight to his newly muscular form. "Methinks Scott is going to have some competition in the attracting ladies department." Then he winced as the comment earned him a playful thump on the arm from Scott. John laughed as he went around to his place at the table and sat down. Something's never changed; it was just like Gordon to make that kind of a comment. Just like it was typical of Scott to respond with a playful thump.

"You do look good John. It's nice to see you up and about," Virgil said as he to grinned at the typical antics of Scott and Gordon. "How do you feel?"

"Thanks Virg," John replied. "I feel fine. Better than that actually though I admit I do feel a little odd. Guess that suddenly having this additional muscle is going to take some getting used to but I think there is more to the way I'm feeling than being bigger."

"T…t…that is very l…l…likely John," Brains said even as his mind tried to work out how the nanites could have overnight changed John's body in such a dramatic fashion. Try as he might though he couldn't work it out, it seemed impossible. Though where the nanites were concerned Brains suspected that impossible was a subjective term.

"Whatever they've done we'll find out," John said. "As me and Scott were saying earlier when I woke up it would a good idea to scan me again."

"It would be sensible," Virgil agreed. "But first we should have breakfast. After which we can scan you John then call Dad and Alan to advise them. Both of them will still be asleep at the moment."

"I think we can all agree on that Virgil," Scott said as Kyrano appeared from the kitchen carrying a tray on which he had a jug of cold milk and a selection of small cereal boxes as everyone on the island started breakfast with cereal. Kyrano gently put it down on the table then slid into his own seat to join everyone for the first part of the extensive breakfast meal he had prepared from the time he had awoken this morning.

John smiled and reached out to pick up one of the cereal boxes. He knew there would be no more talking now, not until after breakfast. Then they would go to the sickroom and scan him again with the diagnostic beds bio-scanner attachments. A scan he was privately dreading as he hated the way his body felt during the scan, but a scan that he knew was necessary to find out what exactly the nanites had done to him this time. _I'll just have to grin and bare it,_ he thought, _after all I want some answers about what they have done._ Somehow he knew that the answers they were going to get would be interesting, very interesting indeed.

**

* * *

Sickroom**

**One Hour Later**

John sighed to himself as he carefully climbed up on the diagnostic bed and lay down ready for Brains to run the scan. Looking over at the control console he saw Brains sat there with Tin-Tin with Scott, Virgil and Gordon standing behind them. For a moment nothing more happened though John could see that Brains was working the controls ready to start the machine.

"Are y…y…you ready John," Brains asked looking up at last.

"As ready as I can be Brains," John replied bracing himself for the scan to start. "Let's do this."

"Beginning s…s…scan," Brains said as he pressed the controls that started up the diagnostic bed.

Immediately John felt something as the diagnostic bed began powering up. A strange feeling of power, he could feel power flowing through the machine beneath him. He perceived it as a slight but pleasant warm tingle the soothed his body making him relax almost as efficiently as a hot shower banished the pain of tired muscles. Closing his eyes John breathed evenly as a strange perception filled his awareness, he could almost see the energy flowing below him as a luminous, softly pulsating haze. A haze that got ever so slightly brighter as he bed finished power up. Then John noticed a section of the haze on the sides glow brighter before a bright line appeared between the two points. _Okay what's going on here,_ John thought in confusion wondering what exactly he was feeling and seeing inside his head. Then he answered himself. _I can perceive the energy flows somehow. It's got to be the nanites, great what else have they done to me now._

John barely noticed when the perceived line of energy haze began moving. Even though he was startled by feeling the energy he felt himself relaxing more and more, enjoying the feel of the energy as though he would enjoy a good massage. The outside world seemed to fade away; all there was the feeling of energy and the glowing hazy image in his head. The warm tingle got slightly stronger, moving slowly down his body but their was no discomfort at all this time, instead it made the feeling better. _Oh man I don't know what this is but it feels really good,_ he thought, _I'll have to watch myself I could easily get addicted to this. It just feels so good._ He noticed when the strengthened tingle faded away as it passed his feet, then for a moment it returned even stronger as a powerful wave of the haze raced down his body.

Then a lifetime too soon it was all over. The haze and warm tingle vanished as the power to the diagnostic bed itself died. John sighed and opened his eyes again before sitting up and after a moment getting off the diagnostic bed. He immediately noticed the odd looks he was getting off his brothers.

"Oh boy that was weird," he said.

"What was John?" Scott asked. "You looked like you were enjoying that scan. That's a very different reaction to the last time you were conscious when the bed scanned you. Then it was obvious that it made you uncomfortable. But this time you were positively relaxing, I thought you were going to go to sleep."

"I felt different when that scan was being run," John replied as he went over to join his brothers. "It wasn't uncomfortable at all and I could feel something."

"What did you feel," Virgil asked curious.

"Its hard to describe but I felt the energy in the diagnostic bed," John answered. "When I closed my eyes I could see it. It was like a, a haze, a glowing aura that I was aware of almost as though I was part of it. It was really strange but very relaxing."

"I…I…interesting," Brains commented while he waited for the computer to analyse the scan results. "It's possible that the c…c…change in the nanites has g…g…given you a sixth sense John. Like an e…e…energy sense. Theoretically you s…s…should be able to consciously m…m…manipulate a field your aware of."

"Manipulate you mean control it," John asked. Brains nodded.

"Quite h…h…how you could m…m…manipulate it I don't know," Brains answered. "If you c…c…can it might be a basic m…m…manipulation like being able to turn things on and off just by c…c…concentrating on it. Or it c…c…could be more complex and y…y…you'd be able to manipulate t…t…technology to a complex degree with your mind." For a moment everyone in the room was silent.

"Now that would be cool," John said at last.

"Yes it would be," Scott agreed. "Though would probably be quite scary as well at least until you mastered it, if you can do that kind of thing at all John."

John opened his mouth to reply when the console gave a soft bleep to indicate that it had completed its analysis. John looked at the console just as Brains brought up the details and began reading them. Looking at the scan results himself John found that he could easily read them in seconds he read every single screen and understood every word, every graph, and every number of what was displayed. _Wow these things have really changed,_ he thought then blinked startled realising he had read all the screens a virtual eye blink, _whoa how did I do that? I can't read that fast or can I? If what this is saying is true then it's perfectly possible._

"Wow," he said aloud. "I just read all of that. It's incredible."

"What," Brains said breaking off to look at John in surprise. "Y…y…you read all these screens in l…l…less than five s…s…seconds John?" John nodded.

"And understood every word Brains," John replied faintly noticing that a faint twinge like an oncoming headache was beginning in his skull. He ignored it, it had happened to him many times in the past and ninety percent of the time nothing happened. "Though don't ask how I did it because I honestly don't know. I just did it."

"Now that's freaky," Gordon commented. "So what did the scan reveal?"

"Basically these things inside me have completely changed," John answered. "The organic part of the nanites has changed into a completely new form and the circuitry of the machine part has seemingly reconfigured itself."

"E…e…everything that the nanites were doing before they are n…n…now doing with greater e…e…efficiency," Brains added. "Energy efficiency has s…s…shot up. For every task they seem to be u…u…using eighty percent less e…e…energy than before. John's metabolism is almost b…b…back to what it was before the nanites integrated with him."

"Wow," Scott said. "So no more fainting spells from lack of energy John."

"Looks like it Scott," John agreed. "But I should still ware the energy monitor. But that's not all that they have done."

"Y…y…yes they have done much more," Brains answered. "The bio-polymer r…r…residue that was in John's system isn't their anymore. The n…n…nanites no longer s…s…seem to be producing it as a by product of t…t…their metabolic activity."

"I thought there as an awful lot of that in John's blood," Virgil said. "That his kidneys were only slowly filtering it out. Where did it go?"

"Here Virg," John said flexing the muscles in his arms so the peaks of his biceps and triceps pressed visibly against his shirt. Then he lowered his arms to normal position. "When Brains analysed that bio-polymer residue before he found that it was made mostly of a new form of protein that my body couldn't use. The nanites have since changed that and used it to not only make me more muscular but they've completely altered the structure of the fibres in my muscles to the newer form."

"Yes. I will h…h…have to run some projections," Brains added. "But from the looks of it John's muscles are e…e…even more efficient than they were after initial i…i…integration and capable of c…c…considerably greater force."

"So in other words not only are you much bigger now John your also much stronger," Virgil said.

"Yes," John replied. "And its going to be fun trying to figure out how strong I am now considering how much fun we had finding out last time." Virgil nodded remembering how they had once loaded a barbell to the maximum amount of weight it could take and John had still been able to do multiple lifts of it without really breaking a sweat.

"T…t…there are also nanites in areas now w…w…where they weren't before or where t…t…there were very few," Brains said.

"I thought they were everywhere," Scott replied with a frown.

"Not quite Scott," John answered. "There were only a few in my nervous system but now they are everywhere, and whatever it is their doing it doesn't look like their done yet." As he spoke he winced as the twinge in his skull turned into a headache that seemed to get worse with each passing second.

"John what's wrong," Gordon asked frowning in concern.

"It's just a headache Gordon," John replied. "Nothing to worry a…." John's voice trailed off as the headache exploded inside his skull, filling every synapse with pain. Clutching at his temples John cried out in pain before stumbling blindly as the pain took away his ability to see proper, just like a migraine would.

He would have fallen if someone hadn't caught him, faintly he heard what sounded like Scott speaking to him in concern but he couldn't make out what his brother was saying through the intense pain. _Please stop, please stop,_ he thought as the soothing darkness of unconsciousness reached up to grab him. John gratefully gave himself up to it, spiralling back into the peaceful silence of unconsciousness.


	27. Chapter 27: Evolution Part Three

**Chapter Twenty Seven: Evolution Part Three**

**Sickroom**

**Tracy Island**

Scott looked down worriedly at John; he had only just caught him in time when John passed out again, this time obviously from a very bad headache. Thinking about what Brains and John had said about the nanites being in John's nervous system now and the way John had read the data on the diagnostic beds control panel in the blink of an eye Scott would bet good money that this was not an ordinary headache. Even when John had one of his infrequent migraines it didn't make him loose consciousness from pain, though it could get amusing when John walked into things because he couldn't see where he was going.

"Oh great now what are the nanites doing to him," Virgil said from just behind him. "Haven't the infernal things done enough to John already?"

"I don't know Virg," Scott replied. "Though if I had to hazard a guess I would say that it's the nanites in John's nervous system that caused the headache that resulted in John doing the dying swan act again."

"That is the m…m…most logical h…h…hypothesis Scott," Brains agreed. "We s…s…should scan John again to s…s…see if we can c…c…confirm it."

"Good idea Brains. Virg will you help me carry sleeping beauty by here back over to the diagnostic bed. Given what the nanites have done to his appearance he's probably quite heavy now, not that he wasn't heavy enough before."

"Sure thing Scott," Virgil replied walking around Scott and gently grabbing John's legs. Together the two of them began carrying John over to the diagnostic bed and despite himself Virgil was surprised by how heavy John was now though a guy with muscles as big as the ones he now had was bound to be heavy. _Just like I'm quite heavy,_ Virgil thought remembering that he himself weighed two hundred and twenty-five lean pounds the legacy of being a quarterback on the college football team and living in a family that had always been into physical fitness big time. _I wonder if John weighs more than me now,_ he thought with a mental shrug. He would find out later.

After a few more moments they reached the diagnostic bed and with great tenderness they laid John down on the bed. John murmured something softly in his unconscious state but didn't awaken as Scott and Virgil returned to the control console where everyone else was waiting. Scott nodded at Brains in a silent command to begin the scan; Brains nodded back indicating he had understood the order before manipulating the settings for the diagnostic bed then starting it up again.

The diagnostic bed activated with the familiar humming sound. Everyone watched as the scanning energy band grew between the bio-scanner units then slowly began to scan John again. Scott raised an eyebrow when he saw the scan seemed to be going faster this time than at any other time since Brains and Gordon had installed the bio-scanner units.

"It's going faster this time," he commented.

"Yes. I p…p…programmed it to only s…s…scan John nervous s…s…system Scott," Brains replied drawing Scott's attention. "That is w…w…why it's going q…q…quicker." Scott nodded in understanding and turned his attention back to watching John.

After a few moments of anxious waiting for everyone in the room the scan completed itself and the computer began its analysis. Scott looked over at Virgil.

"Virg why don't we move John from the diagnostic bed to one of the bio-beds so he'll be more comfortable," he suggested.

"Good idea," Virgil agreed. "Though John is probably sick and tired of waking up in here. I know I would be."

"Think we all would be," Gordon added. "Though it could be worse, at least he's here on the island in familiar surroundings unlike I was when I was in that hydrofoil accident. Let me tell you waking up at that hospital in Hawaii got depressing after awhile."

"Bet it did," Scott agreed wincing as he remembered the incident that Gordon was referring to, the one that had ended the promising career that Gordon had had with the World Aquanaut Security Patrol and almost taken Gordon's life. The months Gordon had spent in that hospital first in a coma then afterwards when he'd woken up had been a very trying time for the Tracy family, especially when it was feared that Gordon would never walk again. Yet with typical Tracy stubbornness and determination Gordon had refused to admit defeat and with the love and support of his family – especially Alan who'd been with him every step of the way when most of them couldn't be – had made a full recovery.

Scott shook off the memories of that very difficult and uncertain time and forced himself to start moving. Accompanied by Virgil he returned to the diagnostic bed and gently picked John up by his shoulders even as Virgil took John's legs. Without speaking the two of them gently moved John over to one of the regular bio-beds and laid him down upon it. In a tantalising sign that John was not completely unconscious merely in an incredibly deep sleep, John turned over onto his side with a soft murmuring sound and moved a few times until he was comfortable. Taking a spare sheet from one of the other beds Scott gently laid it over his sleeping astronaut brother so that he would be comfortable. _He looks so peaceful,_ Scott thought looking down at John's sleeping face, _he looks like nothing's wrong with him. There's no sign that the nanites are doing anything else to him unlike last time._

"Scott the s…s…scan analysis is c…c…complete," Brains called from the control console drawing Scott's attention. Scott took one last look at John then headed over to the console, wondering what the scans had revealed. Virgil followed just behind him like Scott wondering what the scan had revealed about whatever it was the nanites inside John were up to now.

"What have you found Brains," Virgil asked.

"The n…n…nanites in John's nervous system a…a…appear to be i…i…integrating more heavily than b…b…before," Brains replied. "They a…a…appear to be interfacing with the s…s…synapses of his brain."

"What effect will that have," Scott asked worrying that when John woke up again he wouldn't be the John they all knew and loved but have become someone else. Would they suddenly be facing a stranger with their brother's face?

"I d…d…don't know," Brains replied.

"Whatever the effect is Scott we will soon know," Tin-Tin said speaking for the first time as she too read the information on the diagnostic bed screens. "According to these readings the nanite integration is already forty percent complete. At this rate John could wake up in anywhere from ten minutes to an hours time."

"Someone should stay here with him then," Scott replied.

"I'll do it," Gordon said. "I didn't get to sit with him last night you and Virgil hogged the spotlight."

"Alright Gordon," Scott answered reluctantly. He had wanted to be the one to sit by John again but he knew he had to be fair to his brothers, plus he had to advise Alan and Dad about what had happened this morning. "I have to let Alan and Dad know what's happening anyway."

"Alan should be easy but are you sure about Dad Scott?" Virgil asked doing a quick time conversion in his head. "I mean its half past ten in the morning here but with the time differential it will only be half four in the morning in New York where Dad is. You would stand little chance of waking him up with a wristcom alert; even if you could Dad wouldn't be with it."

"True Virg," Scott replied sighing and mentally cursing the time zone difference between Tracy Island and New York. He also knew Virgil was right about their father. Jeff Tracy was quite a heavy sleeper it took a very loud alarm like the International Rescue alert to wake him up, and even then he wouldn't be really human until he'd either had a shower or a cup of coffee. "I hate time zone differences."

"I think we all do Scott," Virgil said chuckling.

"I'll just call Alan then," Scott decided with a sigh. "Dad will have to wait a few more hours. Though no doubt he'll call us for an update anyway as soon as he's awake and fully with it. I better not put off calling Alan."

With that Scott left the sickroom to go to the living room to call Alan, after a moment Virgil began to follow but not before giving John's unconscious form a last long look. _I hope this is the last time the nanites decide to change on us,_ he thought leaving the sickroom, _I don't know how many more episodes like this any of us can take. Especially John._

**

* * *

Living Room**

**Ten Minutes Later**

"Are you sure John's going to be alright," Alan asked from the screen that had replaced his portrait on the wall.

Scott had spent the last ten minutes explaining everything that had happened so far today to his youngest brother. To say that Alan was surprised was an understatement, he was as stunned as the rest of them by John suddenly sporting a much more muscular physique and being even stronger than before. But like the rest of them he was also obviously worried about this latest development with the nanites merging with John's brain. Worried and to the eyes of both Virgil and Scott frustrated that he couldn't be down on the island with them.

Looking at Alan's live feed Virgil felt a deep sympathy for him, here on the island they had each other to rely upon and share their fears with, up their alone in Thunderbird Five Alan had no one. Virgil blinked as for perhaps the first time he actually realised just how lonely space monitor duty was for both Alan and John. It was a somewhat disturbing revelation to him, realising how lonely it could be up there, it was no wonder that Alan sometimes tried to avoid going to Thunderbird Five it didn't just take him away from Tin-Tin but it also got major lonely up in orbit. _I'll have to talk to Dad,_ Virgil thought, _there has to be something we could do to make things more tolerable up there on Thunderbird Five for whoever's on duty up there. Might help to talk to Brains as well – see if we can crack the problems with those holographic communicators that he's been working on for months._

"We think so Alan," Scott replied not noticing the thoughtful look that had appeared on Virgil's face. "But we won't know for sure until he wakes up which according to Tin-Tin and Brains could be anytime from now."

"I see," Alan answered not looking happy with the answer and Scott couldn't blame him. He wasn't happy either but it was the only answer he could give at the moment as it was the only one he had. "Will you let me know when he wakes up Scott?"

"Sure I will," Scott said. "Though I could also go one better and ask John to give you a call when he stops doing the sleeping beauty bit." Scott inwardly smiled when his words brought a smile to his youngest brother's lips momentarily displacing the worry that was extremely visible on Alan's very expressive features.

"I would like that Scott," Alan replied at last. "Thank you."

"Not a problem bro," Scott answered. "Before I go is there anything going on in the world that we need to be aware of?"

"Not really," Alan replied. "It's mostly quite. Mount Baker finished erupting sometime overnight after going at it for almost twelve hours. The winds dispersing the fallout cloud out to sea so there shouldn't be anymore problems with that. The forest fire the lava and pyroclastic flows caused is being contained by local services so there are no problems there. There is a hurricane brewing in the Atlantic that I'm keeping an eye on but so far it doesn't look like its going to cause any problems. It's barely even category one at the moment. I'll keep you advised if anything changes."

"F-A-B, Alan. I'll let you get back to work and don't worry I'll get John to call you when he wakes up." Alan nodded on the screen.

"Thanks Scott," Alan replied then disappeared, his image being replaced by his portrait as Alan broke the connection from his end. Virgil looked at the image of Alan looking as proud and handsome as the rest of them in his International Rescue uniform.

"You know Scott I didn't really realise until now just how lonely it must get up there on Thunderbird Five," he said at last. "How helpless Alan and John must feel whenever one of us is hurt or ill and they're stuck up there in orbit."

"I know Virg," Scott replied standing up from behind the desk. "I just wish there were something we could do to make it easier for whoever is on duty up there. But unless Brains sorts out the datastream integrity problems with the holographic communicators I don't see that there is anything we can do."

"Neither do I Scott, neither do I. What shall we do now?"

"I don't see that there is anything we can do Virgil since Dad won't be up yet," Scott replied. "And John's still unconscious. All we can really do is wait and hope he wakes up sooner than later."

"True," Virgil replied heading over to his piano to play a piece of music that would hopefully reflect his current mood.

**

* * *

Sickroom**

**Sometime Later**

Gordon looked up from the newest issue of one of the many diving magazines he subscribed to as a soft groan came from the bed. Looking at the bed he saw that John was at last stirring from his sleep. Slowly, ever so slowly John's expressive blue eyes opened, Gordon smiled down at him as John came to full consciousness.

"Welcome back sleeping beauty," Gordon said grinning. "How are feeling?"

"Fine," John replied smiling at the oh so typical words of Gordon's even as he sat up in bed. "How long was I out?"

"Just over an hour," Gordon replied. "Do you feel any different John?"

John considered for a few moments before responding to Gordon's question. Truth be told he did feel different, and the light hadn't hurt for more than a millisecond when he had opened his eyes. Almost as soon as he had opened his eyes they had adjusted to the bright tropical sunshine filtering in through the fine netting over the windows of the sickroom. The adjustment almost instantaneous and now that he thought about it he realised he could think more easily, his thoughts were smooth and fast. On a hunch John tried to remember what exactly he had had for breakfast two days ago and everything flooded back on him. Sight, sound, taste everything exactly as it had been but seemingly even sharper, it was like he was there at that moment again.

Unbidden other memories began surfacing bombarding in his brain in an onslaught of memory. He remembered everything that had happened in the last few days, every experience he had had. They swept through his mind as a slipstream blur of experience yet he understood them all. John gagged as the tide swept through his mind, pulling him down as if he were drowning in an ocean of memories. _Stop please,_ he thought trying to fight against the tide of recollections.

"John!" Gordon's voice barely penetrated through the hurricane of memories raging in John's head but John desperately mentally reached for the sound. "John what's wrong?"

Grasping the sound of his younger brother's voice with the desperate strength of a drowning man clutching a life line John began pulling himself out of the ocean of memory. The slipstream of experience began fading away and with breathtaking suddenness that drew a gasp from his lungs he found himself back in the sickroom, with a worried looking Gordon watching him in alarm.

"I'm okay now Gordon," John said his voice shaky as he became aware that his whole body was shaking with the reaction to the intrusion of his memory. "I was just remembering."

"Remembering what?" Gordon asked. "And are you sure that you're alright? Do you want me to call Brains or someone?"

"No its okay Gordon I'm fine, you don't need to call anyone," John replied as the reaction in his body subsided. Cautiously he moved the bedclothes off himself, swung his legs over the side of the bed and stood up. "I was just remembering everything that's happened in the last two days all at once. Every sight, every smell, and every sound as if I was there again. They raced through my head so fast that I couldn't control it, yet I understood every single memory. Guess it's another nanite related thing that I am going to have to master."

"Guess so," Gordon answered. "You really remembered everything from the last two days?"

"From when I've been awake Gordon yes."

"Wow. Now that really is impressive John," Gordon said. "Probably even more impressive than your superhuman strength. Though to be truthful John I suspect that perfect recall is just the tip of the iceberg as far as your abilities are concerned."

"You're probably right Gordon," John agreed as he moved around the bed to join Gordon. "In fact I am certain that you are correct, if I do have even more abilities now then I'll have to master them as I discover what they are. Let me tell you it's a hell of a learning curve."

"For all of us," Gordon pointed out. "Not only do you have to learn how to control and live with your powers but we have to learn as well. Though I do have some idea of what you're going through from when I had to learn how to do everything like walking, running and swimming again."

John nodded in agreement with his copper haired brother, of his whole family Gordon was the best equipped to understand how hard it was for him to learn to control his powers. Granted with Gordon it had been different and more frustrating as he remembered being able to do it before, but it did give the aquanaut a good grounding to understand his feelings and frustrations. It was why when he'd wanted to talk about his feelings it was the redheaded prankster that he had turned to more than anyone else. When he wanted to be Gordon could be a very good listener, they all could be, even Alan.

"I know Gordon," he said at last. "Come on lets go see everyone."

"Yes. Lead on then John," Gordon replied. "Everyone is going to be so glad to see you up and about. I just hope the nanites don't do anything else to you, I don't know how many more of these dying swan acts of yours any of us can take." John laughed.

"We can but hope bro. We can but hope," he answered grinning broadly even as he led the way out of the sickroom into the rest of the villa to see the rest of his worried family. At those that were on the island with them. "I don't like these dying swan acts anymore than the rest of you."

"That's true," Gordon said. "But let's be quiet now. We're almost to the living room and we don't want Scott to hear us coming, be fun to surprise him." John grinned and exchanged a mischievous look with Gordon. Then the two of them moved quietly through the villa heading straight for the living room where Scott was almost certain to be, distracting himself from worrying by doing paper work. _This is going to be fun,_ John thought grinning, _Gordon must be rubbing off on me but this is going to be fun._


	28. Chapter 28: Just Communication

**Chapter Twenty Eight: Just Communication**

**Living Room**

**Tracy Villa, Tracy Island**

Scott sighed as he tried for what had to be the thousandth time to read one of the many files that Dad had left behind for him to read through while he was away in New York and Washington. No matter how hard he tried to get into reading the document the meaning of the words eluded him, every word seeming to merge together becoming a meaningless mass of black and white.

His thoughts kept drifting to John and how he was lying unconscious in the sickroom as the nanites did something to his brain. Though he knew that it was irrational Scott couldn't stop worrying that the nanites could be changing John's personality, that when he woke up again he would not be the same person but someone completely different, a stranger with their brothers face. Scott didn't know where the irrational fear came from but no matter how hard he tried he couldn't shake it off.

Growing irritated at his inability to focus on the file he was supposed to read Scott closed it with a frustrated sigh and rubbed his eyes. _Come on Scott Carpenter Tracy focus, _he thought, _John's going to be fine the nanites aren't going to change his personality. That only happens in science fiction stories so stop worrying._

"You look like someone with a problem Scott," John's voice abruptly said from very close by making Scott jump a mile. Immediately there came the familiar sound of laughter from both John and Gordon. Lowering his hand Scott saw both John and Gordon standing right in front of the desk in absolute hysterics. Scott was alternatively relieved to see that John was once more in the land of the living, and annoyed at the fact that John had just tried his hardest to give him a heart attack.

Before he could say anything caustic to his brothers for trying to scare him to death Virgil came in from the balcony where he had been painting another landscape. The familiar sounds of brotherly laughter having brought him out of his painting trance and prompted him to come and investigate what was going on. Virgil froze when he saw Gordon and John standing in front of the desk with Scott looking relieved and a little ticked off from their father's seat of power behind the desk. Virgil sighed in relief at seeing John once more up and about and seemingly in very good spirits, if the way he was laughing was anything to go by.

"Hi John," Virgil said. "Welcome back to the land of the living. How are you feeling?"

"Hi Virg," John replied. "Thanks. I'm feeling fine. Before either of you ask the nanites have done something else in here," he tapped the side of his head with a finger, "but what they have done exactly I haven't a clue yet. They have done something to my head though."

"Oh what have they done given you a brain," Scott asked grinning mischievously and his blue eyes shinning with amusement. Gordon and Virgil laughed while John scowled playfully at his older brother.

"More than you ever had Scott," John shot back laughing, the comment making Virgil and Gordon laugh even harder even as Scott scowled.

"Nice comeback John," Virgil replied still laughing his head off ignoring the glare Scott shot his way. Scott stood up and started to open his mouth to issue a very sharp retort when a familiar beeping sound filled the air. _Saved by the bell guys,_ Scott thought glaring at his three earth side brothers before glancing at the portraits to see that the eyes on Alan's were flashing in time to the beeping sound. _Oh please not another rescue operation so soon after dealing with the eruption of Mount Baker,_ Scott thought as he sat back down and pressed the hidden control to answer the incoming call from Thunderbird Five.

"Go ahead Alan," Scott said. Immediately the portrait vanished to be replaced by a live feed and Scott was immediately able to tell that the incoming call was not for a rescue. If that had been the case Alan would have called from the space stations control room, instead the backdrop was that of the living and entertainment area on the station.

"Hi Scott," Alan said grinning. "I was just calling to see how John is?"

"I'm fine Alan," John replied moving into the range of the video pickup. "I only just got up after the last dying swan act I did. I'll call you properly and fill you in on what's happened in another few minutes."

"Ok John," Alan replied.

"Has there been any news from Dad Alan?" Scott asked. Alan shook his head.

"Not yet Scott," Alan answered. "Though dawn has broken over New York now. It should be about six in the morning there now. Knowing Dad he will be just getting up he should be giving you a call shortly."

**

* * *

Jeff's Hotel Room**

**New York Hilton, A Few Minutes Later**

Jeff Tracy inwardly sighed in relief as he downed the cup of fresh coffee that room service had brought up for him. He felt the hot, bitter liquid flow down his throat into his belly and the caffeine it contained hit his bloodstream to banish the fuzziness he always had upon waking up.

Feeling much more human from the coffee Jeff made himself comfortable on the edge of the bed. He would go and have a shower in another few minutes then head down for a very early breakfast even though he was still partially full from the huge meal he had at last nights dinner meeting. Still he knew he had to have breakfast as it was probably the only time he would get to eat at all today given in that just over an hour or two he would fly Tracy One to Washington DC and his meeting with Admiral Hayden at the Pentagon. Jeff couldn't help but smile at the thought of meeting Admiral Hayden face to face again, it had been along time since they had last met. But before he did anything else at all today he wanted to make a very important, very personal call. Raising his wristcom he pressed the button on the side.

"Jeff Tracy to Tracy Island respond please," he said. Almost instantly the face of his watch vanished to be replaced by the familiar features of his oldest son and Jeff instantly knew that something had changed for the better on Tracy Island. Scott did not look as worried now as he had looked earlier when he had called him to alert him to John's collapse after their return from the rescue operation at Mount Baker. A mission where they had faced the full fury of the volcano as it went into its biggest eruption for centuries.

"Hi Dad," Scott replied. "How are you this morning?"

"I'm fine Scott. How is John this morning Scott?" Jeff asked.

"He's fine Dad. John's back up and about but there have been a few changes in him, the nanites evolved into a new form and they altered John in the process," Scott replied.

"What have they done to John Scott," Jeff demanded to know wondering and worrying about what those damned bio-mechanical things in John's blood and cells had done to him now. Was John still going to be the John that he knew and loved or would the nanites have altered him so thoroughly, so completely that he would be someone new, someone completely different to the person he had been? The nanites were such a powerful and unknown technology that anything was potentially possible with them.

"We're not sure entirely Dad," Scott answered. "Though it has really changed his appearance."

"How?" Jeff asked wondering if he was going to end up playing Twenty Questions with Scott to get answers about what the nanites had done to John now.

Scott smiled and in a calm, clear voice described everything that had happened to John from the moment he had collapsed to the present time. To say that Jeff was startled by how much John had been altered by the nanites was an understatement, in fact he could barely believe it but he could tell from the look in Scott's blue eyes that he was telling the truth.

"And we still don't know what they have done altogether Dad," Scott concluded. "It's going to take awhile for us to find that out. Just like it did before."

"Is John there I would like to talk to him?" Jeff asked.

"No he's not Dad," Scott replied. "John's currently speaking with Alan in his room, lord only knows what those two are talking about but you know what they're like when they start talking." Jeff smiled and nodded. Though their personalities were total opposites Alan and John were very close; the only brother Alan was closer to was Gordon. Alan and John could spend hours and hours talking about anything and everything when they wanted to. It was an interesting relationship the two blond haired Tracy sons had not that anyone minded.

"Yes I know," Jeff replied. "As to what those two talk about your guess is as good as mine Scott. Tell John the next time you see him that I'll either talk to him later or when I return from Washington."

"Okay, Dad. Good luck in that meeting Dad."

"Thanks Scott," Jeff replied. "I better go now Scott. I have a lot of things to do today. I'll check in with you later."

"Okay, Dad." Jeff smiled and turned off his wristcom before standing up and heading towards the bathroom for his shower, his movements a little easier now that most of the weight of worry for John had been lifted off his shoulders. He knew now that John was okay and from all accounts was better now than ever before. Still he knew that he would not completely relax until he returned to Tracy Island and saw John for himself.

**

* * *

Thunderbird Five**

**One Hour Later**

Alan smiled as he broke the connection with John far below him on Tracy Island. He was relieved beyond words that John was okay, though the new thing with his memory was downright freaky. It was like the photographic memory trait that both himself and John had shared all their life, but much better and more efficient.

Though the new trait that really had him interested was the energy sense that John had described to him. It sounded downright weird but interesting. Alan couldn't help but wonder if that new sense could do much more than what John knew at this moment in time. He wondered could John control energy fields as well as sense them. It would be cool if John could turn things on and off just by thinking about it. He had confessed as much to John and had not been surprised to find out that John was wondering if he could do that as well.

_Its certainly going to be interesting to find out what he can do now_, Alan thought standing up from the couch he had been sat down on. _Pity I'm stuck up here and can't see for myself but I suppose it's for the best that John's down there. Until he's got some proper idea about what he can do and how to control his powers it would be dangerous and foolhardy for John to do a duty here on Thunderbird Five. He could end up hurting himself or worse._

Alan sighed as it occurred to him at that moment that he could end up spending longer than his normal one month tour as space monitor. It would be inconvenient, as it would keep him away from Tin-Tin for longer than he was usually comfortable with. But in this instance he wouldn't mind at all, John needed to learn to control of his powers before it would be safe for him to reassume space monitor duty. _I just hope it doesn't take too long for John to learn control,_ he thought, _I don't mind pulling an extra month of duty for John as it would only be fair given he so recently pulled a two month shift for me after I got injured. But more than two consecutive months of space monitor duty would drive me completely batty. Whatever happens though I'll be ready for it, because I have to be._

Alan sighed again then left the living and entertainment room to go to the gym for a workout.


	29. Chapter 29: Reunions Part One

**Chapter Twenty Nine: Reunions Part One**

**The Pentagon**

**Washington DC, USA**

**A Few Hours Later**

Jeff Tracy smiled as he closed his mobile phone and slid it back into his pocket. His mother, Rose, had just called him from Kansas, she was ready to return home to Tracy Island after a few weeks away comforting and supporting an old friend of hers who had just lost her husband. Jeff would take Tracy One to Kansas and pick her up before flying them both back home to the island. _It will be nice to have mother back on the island,_ Jeff thought, _we've all missed her, especially her cooking. Though she is going to be in for a very big surprise when she sees John in person, though both myself and Scott have been keeping her up to date with what's been happening with him since the time we first detected the presence of the nanites._

The sound of someone clearing their throat for attention brought Jeff out of his thoughts about his mother, John and the nanites. Looking up he saw that a muscular young marine with a hair style and colour that was eerily like Gordon's was standing over him.

"Mr Tracy?" the young marine asked in a voice that had a very pronounced Texan accent.

"Yes?" Jeff asked.

"Admiral Hayden is able to see you now sir, would you kindly follow me to his office."

"Certainly," Jeff replied standing up wincing slightly at the stabs of arthritis in his knees and hips, something only exasperated by the hard plastic chair he had been sat on. _Old age doesn't come by itself does it Jeff,_ he told himself with a mental sigh.

"This way please sir," the marine said and led the way out of the waiting area into the rest of the Pentagon. Jeff followed closely, though he had been to Admiral Hayden's office a few times on other business trips here to the nerve centre of the United States military. As a result he well remembered the way, enough that he didn't really need a security escort. Though he always ended up having one, given the almost institutionalised paranoia about potential security breaches that seemed to permeate many of the militaries upper command echelons. Jeff could understand why they didn't want a civilian running around unchecked, even though he hated the implication that he wasn't trusted.

It only took a few minutes for Jeff and his marine security escort to reach Admiral Hayden's office. As they approached the door to the office opened and two very unhappy looking individuals came out, one wearing a smart business suit similar to the one Jeff himself wore, the other wearing a military uniform.

Jeff recognised the weasely-looking, grey haired, skinny man in the business suit immediately. He was Trevor Johansen the current head of the National Security Agency – Jeff had locked horns with the man on many occasions over the last few years for a variety of reasons, as a result himself and Trevor hated each others guts. Jeff knew from experience that when Trevor got involved with something it was never a good development.

Like the agency he led Trevor was paranoid and ruthless and would rapidly move to deal with any perceived threat to US national security – even if that meant stealing technology or assassinating someone. _Or try to deal with the 'threat', _Jeff thought knowing that Trevor and his NSA lackeys had tried to investigate International Rescue in the past as they wanted the technology for themselves. Jeff would not be at all surprised if the nanites that were now in John and the sensor design that Alan had found while looking for information on the nanites were pet projects of Trevor's. They were exactly the kind of projects that Jeff would expect Trevor to be involved in.

Looking at the other man standing beside Trevor, the one in army uniform Jeff found that he recognised him as well. Though they had not met directly Jeff recognised him as Colonel Marshall Graves the commanding officer of the troops protecting the research base where John had been first infected by the nanites. Colonel Graves was another person whose actions and behaviour did not endear him to Jeff, even though his attempts to tag and track Thunderbird One had been amateurish to say the very least, especially compared to the many complex and devious schemes and plots to get their secrets that villains like the Hood had made over the years since they had begun operations. Someone Jeff wasn't surprised to see him with Trevor, Colonel Graves struck him as one of those officers that Trevor would find easy to use for his purposes.

"Mr Tracy," Trevor Johansen said in a forced civil tone of acknowledgement of Jeff's presence though Jeff could practically see Trevor's mind working to determine all the potential scenarios as to why Jeff could be here at the Pentagon to see if they were potential threats.

"Mr Johansen," Jeff replied in a cool collected tone looking into Trevor's eyes as if daring Trevor to say anything about his presence. For the moment the two of them gazed in mutual cold hostility to each other, then Jeff was escorted into Admiral Hayden's office by his marine security escort.

"Jeff Tracy sir," the marine said introducing him while saluting the admiral.

"Yes I can see," Admiral Hayden – a short grey haired man around the same age as Jeff himself – replied. "Leave us please and close the door behind you."

"Yes, sir," the marine replied before leaving the room and closing the door behind him leave Jeff and Admiral Hayden alone. Jeff smiled in greeting at the head of the Joint Chiefs of Staff who was a very old and trusted friend of his. Indeed they had attended the same school as children and remained friends their whole lives – though their paths in life had been very different.

"Hello Jeff it's been awhile," Hayden said smiling back. "Would you like a drink before we get down to our business."

"Indeed it has been awhile David," Jeff replied. "Much as I would like a drink I must pass as I'm flying home later."

"I see. Guess you're anxious to get away from the hustle and bustle of civilisation and back to that island of yours."

"Something like that. Cities are too crowded for my taste these days," Jeff replied. "A lot different to where we grew up."

"Yes it is. We better get down to business then. We have a lot to talk about."

"Yes," Jeff replied sitting down and getting comfortable, "we do."

**-----**

**Kansas**

**Four Hours Later**

Jeff stepped down out of Tracy One onto the tarmac of the single runway of the small private airport that he was meeting his mother at.

"Excuse me sir," a pleasant voice said from his right side, Jeff looked over to see a young woman in mechanics overalls had appeared seemingly from nowhere.

"Yes what is it," Jeff asked.

"Sir would you like the fuel tanks topped up on your aircraft before you depart the airport?" Jeff considered for a few moments. Tracy One was a very modern long range personal jet, albeit one customised by a few unique features that Brains had designed and installed for him. The fuel storage capacity of her tanks was surprising but still Jeff decided a top up wouldn't be a bad idea.

"The tanks are half full still a top up wouldn't be a bad idea," he said at last. "Refill the tanks for me."

"As you wish," the mechanic replied. "If you will follow me a moment sir I need you to quickly fill in an authorisation and payment form then we can do it for you." Jeff nodded having expected that would be the case, it was a normal thing in small private airports like this which lacked the facilities of the bigger airports.

The mechanic turned away and Jeff followed her knowing this would only take a few minutes of his time, then he could go and meet his mother who he knew would be waiting inside in the small terminal block next to the three small hangers that the airport had. Once he met up with his mother it wouldn't take long to get her and her things aboard Tracy One, then they could go home.

------

Rose Tracy waited with growing impatience in the semi-comfortable seat in the small waiting room of the airport. Where was Jeff? She knew he had landed, she'd observed Tracy One land a few minutes ago but Jeff hadn't come in here yet. _Maybe he's having Tracy One refuelled and is hanging around to supervise,_ Rose thought a moment before the door to the landing strip opened letting in a welcome burst of fresh air. The air conditioning system in this building wasn't the best Rose had encountered and was only just able to keep the air cool enough so as not to be uncomfortable. It did nothing about the humidity in the building, unlike the villa's air conditioning system back home which cut out the heat and humidity that was a near enough constant feature of life on Tracy Island.

Looking over at the door Rose smiled when she saw that at long last it was Jeff, though silhouetted as he was against the bright summer sunshine streaming in through the door it was hard to make out precise details of his features. But Rose didn't need to clearly see him to know that it was Jeff, she could tell simply from the way he was holding himself. Jeff's features resolved as he came fully into the room and the doors closed, the tinted glass of the windows eliminating the worst of the suns glare.

Awkwardly Rose got to her feet winching at the stabs of arthritis in her knees and hips, especially in her hips. Jeff frowned as he saw his mother wince in pain like that, it wasn't something that he was used to seeing her show.

"Mother are you alright?" he asked in concern.

"I'm fine Jeff," Rose replied with a warm smile. "Just noticing my arthritis that's all its nothing to worry about."

"I see. Are you ready to go home mother?"

"I'm more than ready to go home, I've missed you all terribly," Rose replied as she picked up her handbag. "Have you any more news about John?"

"I'm afraid not," Jeff replied picking up his mothers suitcases and started to lead the way out of the passenger lounge. "Last report I had before I went to the Pentagon this morning was that he was feeling better and on his feet again, the headache that sent him to bed having cleared." Jeff spoke carefully as he didn't want anyone around him to hear what had happened to John, he doubted anyone around would understand what they were on about, but still he wouldn't risk it. Secrecy had become a way of life for him and his family over the last few years since before International Rescue had started when they were still building it all.

Rose nodded understanding what Jeff was telling her and it was nothing that she hadn't already heard from Scott when she'd spoken to him earlier. Still she was worried about John, about how he was coping with those things being inside him. She knew in her head that John was alright but her heart continued to worry, a worry that Rose knew she would continue to feel until she saw John for herself and could look him in his blue eyes and see how he truly was. Rose was a firm believer in the old saying 'the eyes were the window to the soul', if John could look her in the eyes and say he was alright with what had happened to him, it would be only then that she would really stop worrying about him.

At that moment Jeff opened the door to the airstrip outside and Rose blinked in the bright sunshine until the lenses in her glasses darkened automatically in response to the bright light. Not speaking Rose followed her only son across the landing field to where the ultra-sleek form of Tracy One stood waiting, Rose noticed a small tanker truck pulled up beside it with a fuel feed line joining the two. Rose smiled softly she had been right Jeff was having Tracy One refuelled for the journey home to the island, even with the fact that the jet could do Mach 2 it would take a few hours to get back there from here.

After a moment Rose noticed a reasonably attractive young woman in mechanics overalls appear from the other side of Tracy One and approached them even as another mechanic who they couldn't see that well started to disconnect the fuel feed.

"Mr Tracy," the young mechanic said.

"Yes," Jeff replied.

"We've completed refuelling of your aircraft. My colleague is disengaging the fuel line as we speak. Is their anything else we can do for you before you leave?"

"No its fine," Jeff answered with a smile. The mechanic smiled back.

"Then I wish you a safe flight to wherever you are going."

"Thank you. Your most kind." The mechanic smiled the disappeared back around the other side of Tracy One to the waiting fuel truck. Jeff turned to look at Rose and saw his mother smiling at him. "What?"

"Nothing," Rose replied. "You're an old charmer Jeff you know that."

Jeff shrugged and went aboard Tracy One and put the two somewhat heavy old suitcases in the storage compartment at the very back of the passenger cabin next to the entertainment system. Which saw regular use whenever one of the boys was on Tracy One with him, which wasn't often these days as it was rare for the boys to leave the island for long lengths of time, though Jeff made sure the boys did get holidays from time to time and he didn't stop them going to conventions or things like that if they wanted to go. Turning around to go to the cockpit Jeff noticed his mother struggling to get up the steps into the aircraft. _Her arthritis must be really playing up today,_ he thought as he raced over to help her. Holding out a hand he helped the eighty odd year old woman aboard the aircraft.

"Thank you Jeff," Rose said as Jeff pressed the button that retracted the boarding ramp, then closed and locked the hatch.

"Your welcome mother. You better go and strap in we'll be taking off in a few minutes," Jeff replied. Rose nodded and made her way to one of the comfortably padded seats and sat down and began fastening her seatbelt. Jeff watched her for a moment before turning away and heading into the cockpit.

**------**

**Five Minutes Later**

Jeff sighed in relief as he levelled Tracy One off at a height of thirty five thousand feet on a course home to Tracy Island.

"Okay mother you can unbuckle now," he called back to his mother undoing his own seat restraints, though the restraints were pretty much an anachronism on Tracy One. Tracy One like all modern aircraft had inertial dampeners that prevented the people inside from feeling the planes movements and acceleration, still no one had yet done away with the mandatory requirement of seatbelts and Jeff hoped they never did. To his mind it would be dangerous just to rely on inertial dampeners for safety, especially during take off and landing.

Reaching out Jeff pressed the radio control.

"Tracy One to Tracy Island respond please," he said into the microphone. Immediately Scott's face and torso appeared on the communications screen.

"Go ahead father," Scott said.

"Scott I've just picked up your grandmother and we're on our way back to the island. I estimate our flight time to be six hours."

"Okay father," Scott replied just as off screen on Scott's end of the conversation Jeff heard someone faintly speak. "Dad Kyrano wants to know what you fancy for food when you and grandma get back."

"Nothing in particular Scott. Kyrano can cook whatever he wants to cook." On the screen Scott nodded and turned away obviously relaying the message to Kyrano, when Scott looked back at the screen Jeff asked the question that was burning on his mind. "How's John Scott?"

"He's okay Dad," Scott replied. "He's got some new powers that he's intermittently trying to figure out but other than that he's okay."

"Can I talk to him?" Scott shook his head.

"I'm afraid not Dad. He's gone out for a run for a bit, at least that's what he said. My guess is he just needed some time on his own to think about things." Jeff nodded in understanding, it would make sense that John would want to be on his own for a time to think about what had happened to him, especially if he had more powers now than before.

"I see. If you see him tell him we will see him very soon."

"F-A-B, Dad." Scott signed off at that moment, Jeff sighed and with another flick of a switch switched on the cockpit music system. Within seconds the sound of traditional country music filled the cockpit, keeping Jeff company while he guided Tracy One on her long journey home to Tracy Island.


	30. Chapter 30: Reunions Part Two

**Chapter Thirty: Reunions Part Two**

**Tracy One**

**A Few Hours Later**

Jeff smiled when he saw Tracy Island appear on the horizon silhouetted by the slowly setting light of the tropical sun. Evening was fast approaching, soon the sun would disappear completely, then the sky would rapidly darken and become a sea of stars twinkling against the endless black sea of space. In the meantime the golden glow of the setting sun turned the island into a beautiful study of light and shade. _Pity I don't have a camera,_ Jeff thought, _Virgil would so love to paint this scene._

Seeing the island this way was certainly a beautiful sight, Jeff would confess that. But it was more beautiful to him in other ways, not only was it home but seeing it now meant he would soon see John in person. Only once he had done that would he truly stop wondering and worrying about what the nanites could have done to him now. It was perfectly okay for Scott and John himself to tell him that he was fine but Jeff just needed to see for himself, it wasn't that he disbelieved his sons but he just needed to see John in person to be sure he was okay. It was one of his personality traits and Jeff was fully aware that it annoyed his sons sometimes, especially as Scott had inherited it from him.

Reaching out Jeff switched on the radio to the islands civil aircraft frequency and spoke up.

"Tracy One to Tracy Island request clearance for landing," he said into the microphone. Almost instantly the radio speakers crackled to life with the sound of a very familiar voice.

"Tracy Island to Tracy One, landing clearance granted. Welcome back Dad," Scott's voice responded.

"Thanks Scott," Jeff replied. "I make my landing time to be six minutes."

"F-A-B, Dad. I'll tell Kyrano to have a fresh pot of coffee waiting for you." Jeff smiled softly and shook his head. _How did Scott know I was going to ask him to do that,_ he asked himself, before answering his own question. _Because Scott knows precisely how I think, he knows I like having a cup of coffee after a long flight._

"Okay Scott thanks."

"No problem Dad." The speakers went dead as Scott broke the connection from his end. Jeff sat up a little bit straighter in his pilot's seat and gave the controls his full attention as he concentrated on the task of guiding Tracy One into a landing on the islands airstrip.

**-----**

**John's Room**

**Tracy Villa, Four Minutes Later**

Sitting comfortably in a high leather backed chair John focused his attention on the active computer sitting on the desk in front of him. He kept his hands at his sides and just focused his mind on the computer. For a moment nothing happened, then he began to feel something. It started faintly at first, a faint sliver of awareness at the back of his mind, but it grew stronger and he felt the computer as if it were a part of him.

Like he had earlier down in the sickroom John sensed the energy in the computer. Closing his eyes he fully opened himself to the new sensation, as before he perceived the energy as a softly pulsing, luminous haze. It flowed through the computer in an intricate ballet, he saw it all how the energy moved through the wiring, circuits, processors and holographic memory crystals inside the computer. It was beautiful, registering on his consciousness as one of the most amazing and beautiful things he had ever seen. Branching away from glowing city of energy that was the computer, was a single dense line of light that went beyond his awareness. He guessed that it was the power cord for the computer.

Refusing to let himself become mesmerised by the incredible beauty he saw in front of him John focused on doing a very simple task. He imagined the flow of power through the computer dying, for a moment nothing happened but then John noticed a change in the energy flow. The pulsing luminous haze began fading, parts of the energy city going dark as the computer began shutting down. The process picked up speed and in the space of time it took to take in and exhale a single breath the glowing city had gone completely dark, save for a tiny note of power at the edge where John guessed the power cable connected to the computer.

Elated that he had accomplished what he had wanted to do John was about to focus on reversing it, turning the computer back on, when an intruding sound jolted him out of the almost meditative state he had slipped into. The energy perception vanished with the same lack of fuss as a popping soap bubble and John heard the sound properly. It was the sound of someone clapping their hands in a congratulatory fashion. Opening his eyes John looked up to see Scott standing there with a smile on his face.

"Very impressive John," Scott said smiling. "You're starting to get the hang of your new powers."

"Slowly but yeah I'm getting there Scott," John replied smiling back at his brother. "Though its probably going to take along time and considerable practice before I can do that without closing my eyes and having to really concentrate. How long have you been standing there?"

"Only about a minute," Scott answered smiling. "I came in and you were just sat there with your eyes closed and a concentrating look on your face. I was about to speak then I saw the computer start to go into shutdown mode and I just knew you were doing it."

"Oh right. Did you want something Scott?"

"I was just coming to tell you that Dad is on approach in Tracy One," Scott replied. "He had Grandma with him as well. They'll be landing just about now."

"Really? Cool! I bet get ready to greet them then, though Grandma is sure going to get a surprise when she see's me."

"There's no doubt about that John," Scott replied eyeing John's newly muscular physique, though he had more or less gotten use to it by now. "One things for sure though she going to stop nagging you about needing to eat more." John laughed as he stood up.

"That's true," John agreed knowing his grandmother had been forever trying to fatten him up whenever he was on Earth. Rose had been convinced that he wasn't eating properly to have been as skinny as he had been, when the reality was he just had a very fast metabolism that made it difficult to put on weight be it as fat or as lean muscle. "Let's go meet them then. Lead on Scott."

Scott grinned and nodded before leading the way out of the room with John following closely behind him. _Dad and Grandma are going to be so surprised when they see me,_ John thought with an amused grin on his handsome face. Seeing their reactions was going to be interesting, very interesting indeed.

**-----**

**Tracy One**

Jeff guided Tracy One into a flawless landing with exactly the same kind of effortless easy skill and grace that Scott displayed when landing Thunderbird One. They set down with only the faintest of bumps that was almost completely eliminated by the inertial dampeners. Jeff focused his attention on dumping speed and gently guiding the jet into the stand by aircraft parking area, they would later use a small tractor to tow Tracy One into the aircraft hangers.

After Tracy One had come to gentle but full stop Jeff cut all power to the engines and secured the controls before releasing his seatbelt and standing up. Heading into the passenger compartment he smiled when he saw that his mother was already on her feet and moving to get her suitcases from the storage area.

"Let me get those for you mother," he said moving towards her only for Rose to wave him off.

"I can get them Jeff," Rose replied ignoring the arthritis in her knees and hips, thankfully it had calmed down a bit so she didn't feel it as badly as she had at the airport. Jeff sighed and allowed his mother to get her suitcases, he knew from long experience that when she was determined to do something herself there was no stopping her, a trait that Jeff knew he had inherited from her, just as the boys had inherited it from him. Turning away from his mother Jeff opened the hatch to the outside world allowing the warm air and the faint saline scent of the ocean to replace the recycled air of Tracy One's cabin, Jeff smiled softly smelling the familiar scents drifting in from outside even as he lowered the entrance ramp.

Glancing back at his mother he saw that Rose had retrieved her suitcases and her handbag and was coming his way. Smiling Jeff led the way out and held out his hand for his mother to follow him, Rose accepted the offered hand as she descended from Tracy One.

"Thank you Jeff," Rose said. Jeff nodded and led the way towards the villa, even though Rose knew the way as well as he did. As she watched her son moving Rose noticed that the was an ever so slight spring in his step and she couldn't help but smile knowing Jeff was glad to be back home, away from the hustle and bustle of the world beyond Tracy Islands secluded shores. _He's probably anxious to see John as well,_ Rose thought, _I know I am._

**-----**

**Tracy Villa**

John sat with nervous anticipation on one of the couches in the living room waiting for his father and grandmother to appear. He knew that they would be here in another few minutes and he couldn't help but be nervous about how they would react to seeing him and how he'd changed. _I hope they're okay with it,_ he thought, _especially Grandma, since I haven't seen her since I came back from Thunderbird Five before all this started._

Softly John shook his head it was hard to believe that it had been that he had come back from Thunderbird Five just over week ago. With everything that had happened since they had received that fateful callout to the military research base in Nevada it felt like a lifetime ago. A lifetime since the nanites had first gotten into his body and began the process that had ultimately transformed him into what was basically a superhuman. Looking back on it now though, John felt almost nostalgic for the way he had been before, oh he liked having powers and he certainly liked his new physique but he still couldn't help but feel a twinge of nostalgia for the old normality that he had taken for granted. Normality that would never return, unless Brains figured out a way to get the nanites out of him, but even if he did John wasn't sure how he would feel if that were ever to come around.

"Something wrong John," Scott asked from nearby seeing the look on John's face. John blinked and looked up into Scott's eyes, blue eyes that were so like his own.

"No Scott nothings wrong," John replied. "I was just remembering."

"Remembering what?"

"Being like you, being normal," John answered with a sigh. "I guess realising that I haven't seen Grandma since before all this started got me thinking about it, and how I'll never be normal again."

"You don't sound unhappy about that."

"Truth be told Scott I'm not sure how I feel about it," John replied with a sigh. "I like having these powers that I've got, even though I'm not sure how to control them all yet, or even what they all are. But at the same time there is another part of me that wants to be just a normal human being again and not have to constantly wonder what I can do. Though you know what scares me most about these powers Scott?"

"What?" Scott asked not sure that he wanted to hear the answer.

"It's the fear that I could hurt one of you without meaning to," John answered. "I mean I have superhuman among other abilities, I constantly worry that I could hurt someone, that even a playful punch or something could inflict serious injury."

"I understand. Try not to worry about it John, as time passes the risk of that happening drops as you get to know your abilities and your limits."

"Scott's right John," Jeff's voice abruptly said and John looked over at the entrance to see his father and grandmother come into the room. As they saw him both of them looked stunned, the dramatic change in his physique momentarily rendering them speechless. Then Jeff spoke again. "As time passes you get better at controlling your powers, soon you'll do it automatically without even realising that you are doing it."

"Thanks Dad," John replied suddenly feeling a little bit better, as though some invisible weight had been lifted from his broadened shoulders.

"You're welcome," Jeff replied. "Now come here."

John smiled, got to his feet and went over to his father. As soon as he was close to his Dad, Jeff reached out and pulled him into a loving embrace. John gently hugged his father back, consciously making sure that none of his enhanced strength got into the embrace as he would hate himself if he hurt his father. _Wow John feels like he's made of titanium,_ Jeff thought as he hugged his son and felt how hard John's enlarged muscles were. They felt strong, really strong but Jeff knew that was only an illusion, that John's muscles were capable of far greater force than what could be physically felt by someone holding him. Knowing that Jeff could understand John's fears about inadvertently hurting someone, he really could.

After a moment Jeff pulled back out of the embrace allowing Rose to pull John into a hug herself. Like Jeff Rose immediately noticed how strong John's body felt, the change startling her even more than seeing his changed form. She'd hugged John before and he'd felt strong – all her grandsons did as every last one of them was a fitness fanatic like their father – but he'd never felt like this before. Gently Rose pulled back and looked up to meet John's eyes as like everyone else in the family he towered over her.

"It's good to see you John," Rose said. "I've been so worried about you since I was first told what was happening to you. How are you feeling?" John paused and considered for a moment.

"I'm okay Grandma," John replied at last.

"Good," Rose answered eyeing John's new physique again and picturing in her minds eyes what he would look like with his shirt off. The mental image was more than enough to make her heart skip a beat of two. "You look good John. You certainly won't have problems attracting girlfriends now."

"Grandma," John exclaimed blushing to the roots of his hair in embarrassment while also inwardly flinching knowing Rose was probably going to try playing matchmaker for him now. From behind him John heard Scott snickering and mutter under his breath though John heard the words clearly.

"Better playing matchmaker for John than for me," Scott muttered. John mock glared at his older brother then laughed, his laugh starting off everyone else in the room.

"Relax John mother was only teasing," Jeff said giving his mother a pointed look to tell her not to get any ideas of playing matchmaker. "Weren't you mother?"

"Yes I was," Rose answered while inwardly cursing Jeff for spoiling her fun. She didn't often get chance to embarrass John so she would take any chance she got. Not that she seriously intended to play matchmaker, the boys lives were their own, she wouldn't interfere unless she absolutely had to. Usually that meant verbally knocking people's heads together to make them realise something.

The sound of someone clearing their throat behind him made Jeff turn around to see Kyrano standing there patiently waiting for attention.

"Welcome back Mr Tracy," Kyrano said pleasantly before bowing politely to his employer and old friend. "Dinner will be ready shortly Mr Tracy. Will you and Mrs Tracy be joining us?"

"Yes Kyrano we will be," Rose replied. "I just need to put my things away in my room first John would you be kind enough to give an old woman a hand?"

"Sure Grandma," John replied taking his grandmothers cases off her. He knew that Rose was quite capable of carrying them herself and normally would insist on taking them herself. The fact that she was asking him for help let him know that she wanted to talk to him alone for awhile, presumably about everything that had happened.

Rose smiled then left the room with John following closely behind her. Jeff and Scott watched them leave both of them knowing the same thing that John knew. Rose wanted to hear what had happened to John in John's own words. _It's for the best,_ Jeff thought; _if anyone can put John at ease about controlling his powers then it will be my mother. She is so much better at this kind of thing than me or anyone else._

"Do you think John will be okay Dad?" Scott asked after a moment's silence.

"I think so Scott," Jeff replied moving towards his familiar place behind his desk. "Especially if your grandmother has any say in the matter. Now then Scott before dinner bring me up to speed. Tell me everything that has been going on here on the island while I have been away."

Scott nodded as Jeff sat down behind his desk. Sitting down comfortably opposite his father Scott opened his mouth and began the task of detailing to his father everything that had happened here on Tracy Island since he'd left after the emergency summons to Tracy Industries headquarters in New York.


	31. Chapter 31: Breakthrough

**Chapter Thirty One: Breakthrough**

**Brains' Lab**

**Tracy Island, One Week Later**

Brains jumped, startled out of the schematics he was reviewing, as his main lab computer abruptly admitted a series of bleeps. _Now what,_ he thought with a frown, as he got up from the electronic drawing board he was working at, and went over to the computer. He vaguely remembered instructing the computer to run some tests and simulations but what on, he couldn't remember. He had gotten to into designing some modifications to Thunderbird One.

The flagship aircraft of International Rescue was still down for repairs after that close encounter with a pyroclastic flow at Mount Baker. Brains, with help from Tin-Tin and Scott, had repaired as many of the damaged systems as they could, but they were now stuck until some replacement parts arrived. Parts that were not due to arrive for another two days. In a way, Brains believed that the damage to Thunderbird One was a bit of a blessing in disguise – not that he was about to tell Scott that – as it was allowing him to give her a very thorough, long overdue overhaul. He already had some modifications to make to improve the way ship functioned.

Brains put the thoughts about Thunderbird One out of his mind for now, and gave the computer his full attention. After a second of looking at the screens blankly, he remembered what he had asked it to run its tests on. The tests and simulations were on the nanites, and Brains' continuing quest to find a way of getting them out of John, without killing him in the process. He quickly scanned the test results, and behind his glasses, his eyes widened. The test and simulation indicated away of doing just that. Intrigued and excited now, Brains read more in depth. _This is it,_ he thought, _this is how I can get those things out of John without hurting him. I must tell Mr Tracy immediately._

With a few quick commands, Brains transferred the information to one of the empty electronic pads beside the computer. Then he picked up the pad and left the room, hurrying towards Jeff Tracy's office to give him the good news.

**

* * *

Thunderbird Five**

**That Same Time**

Alan Tracy frowned as he studied the information displayed on one of the control rooms many computer screens. The sensors were tracking a tropical storm in the South Pacific. That was nothing unusual, there was always a few at this time of year. Tropical storms and typhoons were common at the moment. It was where this one was going that had him concerned. The storm was heading right for Tracy Island. According to the storm plot it would hit the island in just over two hours

"Going to get a bit wild down there," he said to himself, remembering from past experience that when tropical storms hit the island, they brought with them high winds, lightning and rain – a lot of it. "It's approaching from a weird angle though, Dad might not know its coming."

The winds in a tropical storm were very powerful and could do a lot of damage. While all the buildings on the island were designed to withstand much more than a tropical storm, it would still cause havoc if it caught them unawares. _Can't take a chance that they don't know its coming,_ Alan thought before flicking a control on the console sending a hailing signal to Tracy Island.

**

* * *

Tracy Villa**

**Tracy Island**

Pulling idly at the collar of his t-shirt, Gordon entered the villa from the patio and looked over at where his father was sitting at his desk, going through some paperwork. Gordon had been going down to the dock to get out two jet skies. He and Virgil had been going to have a race around the island when he had noticed that it was extremely humid outside. There was an eerie calm in the air as well, and when he'd seen how rough the ocean was today he'd known something was up. Something was coming, yet as far he knew they hadn't received any storm warnings.

"Dad, have we received any weather reports today?" he asked.

Jeff looked up at the sound of his voice and frowned. "Not that I'm aware of, Gordon," Jeff replied, before looking over at where John was sitting nearby reading an astrophysics magazine. "Have you heard anything, John?"

"No I haven't, Dad," John answered, looking up. "I would have told you if there was a storm coming. The weather forecast this morning said nothing. Though there are some tropical storms wandering around but none are near here as far as I know."

"Well, something's coming," Gordon said frowning. "The ocean is really choppy this morning."

"That's odd," Jeff answered, still frowning a moment before a familiar beeping sound filled the air. The sound immediately drew everyone's attention to the portraits, where Alan's eyes were flashing. Jeff pressed a control on his desk to answer the hail, and the portrait changed to a live feed from the space station. "Go ahead, Alan."

"I've spotted something, Dad," Alan replied. "Sensors have detected a tropical storm approaching the island from a very odd direction."

"That's strange, we've not had any storm warnings," John said, looking at the screen, while noticing Brains coming into the room out of the corner of his eyes. Alan shrugged.

"It's there, John take a look," he answered and his image disappeared to be replaced by a feed from Thunderbird Five's sensors. The screens showed a mass of angry storm clouds heading right for Tracy Island. "The computer estimates the storm will hit the island in two hours," Alan's voice said over the image.

"That's a very odd angle for a storm," Gordon mused.

"Indeed it is, Gordon," Alan replied as his image reappeared. "That's why I checked the scanners the moment I saw it, just to be sure it wasn't a malfunction. The angle does explain though why the weather service didn't spot it; it was only luck that I saw it myself."

"Odd angle or not it's coming," Jeff said. "So we better prepare for it. Thanks for letting us know Alan."

"No problem, Dad," Alan replied. "Good luck."

"Thanks, Alan," Jeff replied. Alan smiled and broke the connection from his end. Jeff sighed and looked at John and Gordon. "John, will you go and get Scott and Virgil. We're going to need their help to secure this place for the storm."

"Okay, Dad," John replied, getting up and leaving the room.

"I'll get started on clearing the stuff off the sundeck," Gordon said, before leaving the room as well.

Jeff looked over at Brains, like John he had noticed Brains come into the room. "Yes, Brains?" Jeff asked.

"Mr Tracy, I b…b…believe I have m…m…made a breakthrough about the n…n…nanites in John," Brains replied.

"Go on."

"I believe that I n…n…now have a means of r…r…removing the nanites from John's b…b…body without killing him in the p…p…process."

Jeff looked at Brains in surprise. Brains had been working on that problem intermittently since the nanites had first gotten into John nearly a month ago. Real life nanotechnology was something that was so new to all of them, that Jeff hadn't really thought Brains would ever succeed in his goal. Consequently, he had been watching with growing pride as John adapted to all the changes the nanites had been making in his body, from the earlier changes, to the most recent dramatic change in John's physique. In conquering the changes he had observed John's self confidence grow stronger, it was nice to see his normally quiet son more confident in himself.

"Take a seat, Brains, and tell me everything," Jeff said.

Brains nodded and sat down opposite Jeff and began to explain exactly what he had discovered.

**

* * *

A Few Minutes Later**

John returned to the living room, with Scott and Virgil walking a few paces behind him. Immediately from the way his father and Brains were talking, John knew that they had found something out. What that was, he didn't know, and he didn't want to boost his hearing to make out what they were saying.

Noticing that John had returned with his brothers, Jeff broke off his conversation with Brains, and looked over at them.

"Ah boys, good," he said. "Has John told you what's happening?"

"Yes, Father," Scott replied. "Thunderbird Five's sensors have detected a tropical storm coming our way from a very odd angle, a storm that will reach us in two hours."

"That's it exactly, Scott," Jeff answered. "So we have a lot of things to secure or put away before the storm arrives and not a lot of time to do it in. Scott, I want you to go down to the dock and start putting the stuff there away. Make sure you lock down the building. Virgil, I want you to go to the round house and make sure everything is battened down before closing the storm shutters."

"F-A-B, Father," Scott and Virgil said in unison, before leaving the room again to carry out their assigned tasks.

"What can I do, Dad," John asked, curious as to why Jeff had not assigned him to do anything. When there was a lot of work to do to get the villa complex ready.

"You can go and help Scott in a couple of minutes, John," Jeff replied. "But first, myself and Brains want a word with you. Please take a seat."

"Sure, Dad. What do you want to talk to me about?" John asked

"It's about the nanites, John. Brains believes that he has found away to safely remove them from your body."

"I see," John replied, with a sudden empty feeling in his stomach. He had been starting to really get comfortable with the idea that the nanites were going to be inside him for the rest of his life. To be suddenly told that Brains might have away to take them out, made him uncomfortable. He had gotten so used to them he didn't know if he really wanted to be normal again.

"Tell me everything Brains," John said after a moment's silence.

Brains nodded and once again began to explain his latest test and simulation results on the nanites. The simulation had revealed that a complex serum made of a variety of different and complex chemical compounds, could be administered to John's body in three treatments spaced over several days. Once present, the serums active components would begin slowly returning John's body to normal. By safely dissolving the nanites, while simultaneously using a complex controlled process to return John's cells to normal human operation. There were risks however Brains explained. The risk being that the serum might either not work at all or have other unforeseen effects that could potentially be fatal.

"The c…c…choice would be y…y…yours, John," Brains said. "I can make the s…s…serum in question, it's difficult to s…s…synthesise but w…w…within a w…w…week I would h…h…have enough ready to m…m…make the attempt."

"I see, Brains," John said. "I will have to think about it. I should go and help Scott now."

"Okay, John," Jeff replied. "Take as much time as you want to make your decision. We'll all stand by you and respect your choice, no matter what it is."

"Thanks, Dad," John answered, smiling as he stood up, then he turned and left the room.

Jeff watched the older of his two blond haired sons leave the room. He had seen the look in John's expressive blue eyes as Brains had outlined his discovery. He suspected that John wasn't certain that he wanted the nanites out of his body. Jeff could understand how John felt that way, John had become used to them being a part of him. Jeff wouldn't be at all surprised if John decided to keep the nanites. As he had said to him Jeff would support whatever decision he made. And Jeff knew that everyone of John's brothers would be the same.

"Mr Tracy, w…w…what do y…y…you want me to do now?" Brains asked, wondering if Jeff wanted him to return to his lab, or if he wanted him to assist the boys with securing the villa complex for the approaching storm.

"Please go and help Gordon out on the sundeck, Brains," Jeff replied.

"Yes, Mr Tracy," Brains answered, standing up before following John's path out of the main living room.

**

* * *

Dock**

**A Short Time Later**

Scott grunted as he manhandled one of the jet skies into the boathouse and locked it in place. _This would go a lot easier if I had some help,_ Scott thought

The sound of footsteps approaching made him look up. Glancing outside he smiled when he saw that help was coming in the form of John. Yet, as John approached Scott knew that there was something on his mind, he could tell by the look on John's face and his whole demeanour. _Dad must have said something to him,_ Scott thought, _has to be something serious to have John looking the way that he is._

John came into the boat shed at that moment, and Scott smiled warmly at him but John did not show any sign of having noticed. Scott knew that his brother had gotten so lost in thought, that he was basically moving about on automatic pilot.

"John," he called out to get his brothers attention.

John jumped. "Scott I didn't see you there," he said. "You gave me a bit of a fright there."

"Sorry. You seemed preoccupied. Is anything wrong?" Scott asked, shifting into concerned big brother mode without even realising that he was doing it.

"No, nothing's wrong Scott. I just have a lot on my mind," John replied reassuringly.

"Want to talk about it?"

John considered for a moment, it would be nice to talk it over with someone. And Scott had always made it clear that his door was always open to his siblings if they wanted to talk about something. The problem was though, John wasn't sure what to say, and they didn't really have time to have a proper brother to brother chat at the moment.

"Yes," he answered at last. "But not right now. We have too much to do to get this place ready for the coming storm. We can talk about it later. Let's just do what we have to do."

"Are you sure John?"

"Yeah, Scott I'm sure."

"Alright, help me get the _Lucille_ into the boathouse. Then we can start locking everything down."

"F-A-B, Scott."


	32. Chapter 32: John's Dilemma

**Chapter Thirty Two: John's Dilemma**

**John's Room**

**Two Hours Later**

John sat on the one edge of his bed, looking out through the closed patio doors at the world outside. As Alan had said, the tropical storm that Thunderbird Five had spotted, had taken two hours to reach the island and begin venting its fury on them. Outside massive rain drops fell in a near constant sheet of water from angry black clouds. The strong winds blew the rain against the windows and roof of the house, producing a near constant soft rumbling sound throughout the villa. And everything was periodically illuminated by the massive crackling arcs of lightning that were dancing through the clouds and periodically streaking down to Earth in brief lived, but extremely intense forks of pure energy, many times hotter than the surface of the sun.

To John, the violent weather battering the island was a good companion to his turbulent thoughts. He honestly did not know what to do about the nanites in his body and Brains' proposed means of getting them out of him. He wasn't even sure now if he wanted the nanites out of him; he had become so used to them being a part of him. _Would I be able to handle being normal again,_ John thought, _I've gotten so used to everything that comes with the nanites. Would I be able to handle it all being taken away from me? Assuming Brains' attempt doesn't kill me in the process._

That was another thing that was bothering him, the possibility that it could concieveably kill him. John was no stranger to the possibility of being killed. Like his brothers, he consciously chose to put his life on the line whenever they went out into the danger zone as International Rescue. The threat of being badly injured or killed was a constant companion whenever they were out there saving someone. The most recent mission to Mount Baker had clearly indicated the kind of dangers they could face. But somehow this was different. Different in away that John could not put his finger on. Maybe it was because of all the unknowns that were involved. There was still so much they didn't know about the nanites. Even the information the Alan had retrieved from the US governments computer network on the nanite technology, only went so far.

John did not doubt Brains' abilities. He knew full well that Brains would never suggest something so risky, unless he was completely confident that there was a very good chance of success. But at the end of the day, new technologies and materials could still throw up surprises. John readily remembered the incident that Alan had told him about. Scott and Virgil had been knocked out during initial tests with their oxyhydnite cutting gas because they hadn't used electrically heated gas cylinders. Brains hadn't seen that one coming.

A knock at his bedroom door brought him out of his thoughts. Guessing who it was going to be from their conversation earlier on the dock, John looked over at the door.

"Come in, Scott," he said. The door opened and sure enough, his oldest brother stood in the doorway, a startled look on his face.

"How did you know it was me, John," Scott asked as he came into the room, closing the door behind him. "You heard my footsteps again, didn't you?"

"No, just a lucky guess," John replied.

Scott raised an eyebrow but decided not to pursue that particular matter any further. Instead, he looked accessingly at John. He could tell that John was still preoccupied by whatever it was Dad and Brains had said to him earlier. _Must be something major for it still to be bothering him,_ he thought. _Hopefully he still wants to talk about it._ Though he couldn't be sure, Scott was willing to bet that whatever was bothering John had something to do with the nanites. _As long as he doesn't do the dying swan act again,_ he thought remembering what had happened when he'd last been in here talking to John.

"Do you still want to talk about it," he asked at last.

John sighed to himself; he had known that was going to come. Now that he knew something was bothering one of his siblings, Scott would not let up until he found out what the problem was. Like all of them, Scott was persistent and would get his answers out of someone one way or another. Rather than answer out loud John tapped the bed beside him indicating for Scott to take a seat. Scott did so, and for a few moments they sat there in companionable silence. The only sounds in the room was the constant crashing and rumbling of the rain on the roof and windows, and the ever so faint background swishing sound of the air conditioning systems.

"Okay, John, talk to me," Scott said, breaking the silence at last. "What's bothering you?"

John sighed expressively. "It's the nanites," he replied.

"I should have guessed that they would be involved somehow," Scott answered. "What about them this time, John, they're not doing something else to you, are they?"

"No thank goodness. I think they've made all the changes that they're going to make to my body. No what it is, Scott, is that Brains has come up with the formula for a serum that all projections show would remove the nanites from my body without killing me in the process."

"Ah, I see," Scott replied. "And you're not sure that you want the nanites out of you anymore?"

"Exactly," John answered. "I don't know what to think, Scott. I don't really know what I want. A part of me wants them out, wants to be normal again. But at the same time I like these powers that I've got, Scott. I like my enhanced senses; I like the fact that I can be super strong in an instant."

"Sounds like you're in the classic catch-22 situation, John," Scott said. "You want to be normal, but you also like having what are basically superpowers."

"That is part of it. If this had come about a few weeks ago then I would have said for Brains to use the treatment on me without any hesitation. But now I'm not so sure I want him to even try getting the nanites out. But that's not all."

"I didn't think it was. Go on, John, what else is bothering you."

"Brains did say that the treatment he would use is not exactly without risks, Scott. The chemical structure of the serum he would make is extremely complex and has never been used on a human being before. Though simulations show that it would do its work without ill effect, I'm not so sure. You know as well as I that new drugs can have unpredictable effects on the biology of a living human being."

"All too well," Scott agreed, shivering as a memory surfaced. One of his friends in college had taken part in a drugs trial. The drug in question had been a new experimental treatment to prevent nerve degeneration and boost mental acuity. It would have offered hope to many people with nervous system disorders. But in the trial the drug had behaved in an unanticipated way, it had boosted mental acuity but it also attacked the body's vital organs, causing painful internal bleeding. A number of people in the trial – including his friend – had died as a result.

"We both know that Brains would do everything in his power to limit the risks," John continued. "But still…"

"Your worried about the potential side effects," Scott finished for him. John nodded. Scott sighed softly. "I can't give you any real advice here, John," he said. "At the end of the day the choice must be yours and yours alone. You know we will all stand by you whatever choice you make."

"I know, Scott. I know. I'm not used to making this kind of decision though. Have you got any advice at all?"

Scott considered for a moment. "The only thing I can tell you is, go with what your heart tells you to do," he said at last.

"That's the problem, Scott, I don't know what my heart wants to do," John replied with a sigh.

Scott was about to open his mouth to reply when there was a bright flash of light from outside, accompanied by a loud simultaneous bang. The sound made the room shudder around them as if gripped by an earthquake. At the same time, the lights that were on to counter the storms gloom went dead, and the soft swish of the air conditioning vanished. Both Tracy boys looked around in surprise for a moment before realising what must have happened.

"Lightning strike," John said, putting voice to what they both knew had happened.

"Yep," Scott agreed, standing up and stretching slightly. "Come on, John, let's go see if everyone's okay."

"If we can get out since all the doors are automatic," John replied, standing as well. "You know I never really got why all the doors in this place have to be automatic. Why couldn't we have some of the more traditional style doors?"

Scott shrugged. "It was the fashion at the time this place was built to have all doors automatic," Scott pointed out. "Though I see your point and I've wished for old style doors on a number of occasions. There's nothing more satisfying than slamming the door, especially when you're mad."

John laughed as he led the way over to the door. "That's true," he said. "Though that would have been a bit awkward when all this nanite stuff started, I could have ended up pulling the door off its hinges."

"True," Scott agreed as John tried to operate the door. Nothing happened when the button to unlock and open was pressed. Emergency power had to be down as well; else the door would have opened. "Try the manual release."

"Was just about to," John replied opening the panel gently. Inside, beneath the panel of circuitry that controlled the locking mechanism, was a small crank handle to manually open the door. Being careful due to his strength, John operated the mechanism and slowly but surely the door began to open, inch by inch. In no time at all he had opened it enough for them to get through. They both squeezed through the opened gap, and without speaking made their way along the hallway towards the living room.

* * *

It took Scott and John only a few minutes to reach the living room. The whole villa was in darkness, the only light being the light filtering in from outside. By they time they joined the others, Jeff and Brains were engaged in a deep discussion.

"Is everyone alright," Scott asked, looking around the room and frowning when he noticed that Rose looked a little shaken.

"Everyone's fine, Scott," Jeff answered, breaking off his conversation with Brains. "Brains and I were just discussing our loss of power, especially as it would take a major bolt to do this and knock out backup power as well."

"The bolt has probably blown the main breakers, Dad," John said. "Or else emergency power would have come on by now."

"John is r…r…right," Brains said consulting his PDA. "The r…r…remote link to the p…p…power management c…c…computer shows that the f…f…fusion plant is still p…p…producing power but n…n…none is reaching the villa or the Thunderbird h…h…hangers."

"Must have been a rogue lightning bolt to knock out power to both," Virgil commented from the piano. He had been in the middle of playing one of his favourite tunes when the power had gone. "But never mind that, we need to get power back. We can use the service tunnels to get to the power room."

"Take a look at it, Virgil," Jeff instructed. "See if you can get power back to the villa at least."

"Okay, Dad," Virgil replied, standing up.

"I'll come with you, Virg," John said, seizing, the chance to do something to take his mind of the dilemma he faced.

"Okay, John."

"Be careful down there you two," Jeff said. "The wristcom should still be working, so keep in touch."

"F-A-B, Dad," John and Virgil chorused in unison, before leaving the room and heading for the part of the house that served as an access point to the network of man made tunnels and ancient lava tubes that honeycombed the island.

**

* * *

Power Room**

**Twelve Minutes Later**

Virgil grunted as he used the manual control handle to open the door to the power room. As the door opened, a thin haze of smoke, rich with the acrid scent of fried circuits and melted plastic, drifted out. _Whatever has been blown by the lightning induced power surge is in here,_ he thought slipping into the room and starting to scan the room with his torch. John followed him in and did the same thing.

Immediately they both knew that something wasn't right. Most of the circuit panels were still lit from within, the semi-transparent panels covering them showing that none of them were damaged.

"There's power still coming in but its just not leaving here," John said. "Whatever has blown is in here, but it's obviously not the breakers."

"Obviously not," Virgil agreed. "Okay, let's try the main panel, if no luck there, then we'll have to check all the power nodes one by one. I hope it's not one that would be a very awkward and messy repair job that would have to wait until the storm has passed."

"It's got to be something inside here," John said. While Virgil had been talking, he had gone over to the main control panel. Squatting down beside it he saw that some of the cooling air vents were charred where sparks and smoke had erupted. "Hold up the light for me, Virgil."

"Sure, John." Virgil moved over and held the torch up as John opened the metal panel with a screwdriver from the utility belt he had put on before coming down here. The panel came away easily and John shone his torch inside the console.

"Ah ha, found it," John said. "It looks like two of the main circuit boards have been burned out. Don't look like there is any other damage. The power surge must have backlashed through the system to fry the circuits. But why didn't it trip the breakers?"

"It should have," Virgil replied frowning. "Unless there is a fault with one of the breakers we can take a look at that in a minute. Shouldn't take us too long to replace these circuit boards, we have plenty of spares."

"True," John said. "Okay, I'll go to the storeroom and get some replacement circuit boards. You tell Dad what's going on, Virg."

"Okay, John then I'll look at the breakers."

"F-A-B."

**

* * *

A Few Minutes Later**

Jeff signed off with Virgil and looked over at everyone else.

"Virgil and John have found the fault," he said. "It looks like the lightning strike caused a power surge which has fried the circuits in the main power control panel."

"The b…b…breakers should have p…p…prevented that," Brains replied with a puzzled frown. "Unless t…t…there was a fault."

"Virgil is going to check the breakers while John replaces the fried circuit boards," Jeff answered.

"Good some physical activity is just what John needs to distract himself from his current dilemma," Scott said.

"What do you mean, Scott," Jeff asked.

"I won't go into details but John is torn about what to do about the nanites, Dad, whether to keep them or try Brains' treatment to get rid of them," Scott explained.

"I take it that the two of you have been talking about it?" Scott nodded. "Well he doesn't have to make a decision yet, plus we'll support whatever decision he makes."

"I did tell him that. But he's still torn. I guess only time will tell what exactly he wants to do. In meantime the distraction of repair work will do him good."

Everyone gathered in the room nodded in agreement, but they all knew that John would not stop thinking about the nanites. He would think and argue with himself constantly until he made a decision what to do. They all agreed with Jeff though, they would support whatever decision John made about them.

Whatever that decision was.


	33. Chapter 33: After The Storm Part One

****

Chapter Thirty Three: After The Storm Part One

John's Room

Next Morning

John groaned softly as he came out of the deep slumber he had sunken into the night before. Slowly he awoke to near total silence, the only sound being the soft sound of the air conditioning system slowly circulating air throughout the villa complex. The roar of wind and rain battering the villa, the sound he had gone to sleep to, had vanished. Opening his eyes and blinking he waited until the nanites had adjusted his vision to compensate for the sunlight filtering in. John yawned. _The storm's_ _passed,_ John thought, realising from the lack of sound that the storm must have broken sometime in the early hours of the morning.

He yawned again and stretched to loosen muscles that had slightly cramped up during eight hours of immobility, then he sat up in bed. _Might as well get this day started,_ he thought, _now that the storm has passed we are going to have quite a lot of work to do._ He knew that from past experience, whenever a tropical storm or a full force cyclone slammed into the island they always had a lot of cleaning up to do afterwards. Plus they would also have to check for any additional signs of erosion to the island. The powerful storm tides had been known to make some of the cliff faces unstable and before now, had washed away completely parts of the beach. Being a lonely volcanic island surrounded by the vast South Pacific, Tracy Island always took a battering from storms.

Throwing off the bedclothes John got up and slipped out of the sleeping shorts that were the only thing he wore in the way of night clothing. At least when he was on planet side, when up on Thunderbird Five he always wore pyjamas as one never knew when a distress call was going to come in. Now completely naked, John headed into the on suite bathroom for his normal morning shower, he hardly needed it to wake him up anymore, but he still liked having a shower to start the day. _First shower, then get dressed and go to breakfast,_ John thought stepping into the shower cubicle and turning on the jets of warm water, _then I'll find out what work Dad want's me to do today._

* * *

Ten Minutes Later

Freshly showered and dressed in good working clothes, John stepped out of his bedroom into the hallway. Immediately he encountered a groggy looking Scott coming out of his own room.

"Morning, Scott," he said cheerfully.

"Morning, John," Scott replied. Though he was dressed, his slightly slurred voice told John that Scott was still half asleep. "What a wild night that was. Did you have any trouble getting to sleep, John?"

John couldn't help but smile. Typical Scott, even though he was not really awake yet he was still concerned about his younger siblings. John could understand why Scott thought he would have trouble getting to sleep with the sound of the storm raging outside. Scott was thinking that his enhanced hearing would make if difficult to go to sleep. The reality was very different however; John was used to sleeping with background noise.

"Not really, Scott," he replied, with a smile. "I had no trouble getting to sleep. Going to sleep with the storm raging was really not that different to going to sleep up on Thunderbird Five. Even when nothing is going on, Thunderbird Five is never quiet, there's always a constant background noise be it from the speakers in the control room or from the stations power core."

"I see," Scott replied, yawning as he spoke. "I'm glad to hear that, John. Come on let's get down to the kitchen and have a cup of coffee, before everyone descends on the kitchen for the breakfast madness."

John chuckled softly. "Sounds good, Scott," he replied, the tone of his voice amused. "Lead on then."

Scott grinned and led the way down the hallway with John following a short distance behind him. They both moved with companionable silence, neither feeling the need to talk about anything. Both instead focused their attention on their mutual goal, getting a much needed first cup of coffee.

* * *

Dining Room

Fifteen Minutes Later

Scott looked up from nursing a second cup of strong black coffee as he heard the sound of someone coming into the dining room. He smiled softly when he saw that it was his father and Virgil, both looking awake though Virgil more so than Jeff. Almost everyone was here now, Gordon had appeared a few minutes ago though he hadn't spoken to anyone yet, the copper haired aquanaut was not yet awake enough for that. Tin-Tin and Grandma had also arrived but disappeared immediately into the kitchen to help Kyrano prepare a very hearty breakfast. Everyone would need it given the work they would have to do today.

"Morning, Dad, morning, Virgil," Scott said in greeting.

"Morning, Scott," Virgil replied.

"Morning, Scott," Jeff added then looked at John and was surprised to see that John looked completely rested. Given the fact that the nanites boosted his hearing Jeff would have expected John to have some difficulty sleeping through the storm last night.

"Morning, Dad," John said. "Before you ask, I had no trouble sleeping at all last night; seems like everyone keeps forgetting that I'm used to sleeping with background noise."

"Oh right, John sorry," Jeff said sitting down in his normal seat and missing his morning paper, there hadn't been a delivery today yet. "I guess we've been thinking that your enhanced hearing would cause you problems."

John nodded in understanding; he could easily see how everyone could think that way. No one but him really had an understanding how great his subconscious control of his nanotech abilities was becoming. _Though if I agree to try that treatment of Brains then I won't have these powers to control anymore,_ he thought with a mental sigh. He still had no idea what he wanted to do about that, though he knew he couldn't agonise over it forever. Sooner or later he would have to make the choice about what he wanted to do.

The sound of approaching footsteps caught his attention and John looked at the doorway. They all watched as a rumpled looking Brains came into the dining room. Brains ignored everyone and went and sat in his usual place before pouring himself a coffee from the pot on the table. No one bothered to speak to Brains; they knew the genius behind the Thunderbirds was not a morning person. He wouldn't really talk to anyone until he had the caffeine from at least one cup of coffee flowing through his veins, waking him up. _Talk of the devil and he shall appear,_ John thought with a smile.

The door to the kitchen opened bringing the tantalising aroma of cooking food into the dining room. Tin-Tin poked her head around the door and smiled when she saw everyone was present, then she ducked back into the room the door swinging closed again. The twin doors between the dining room and the kitchen were the only doors in the whole villa that were old fashioned manual doors. A moment after Tin-Tin disappeared, the doors opened again and she was back. This time with a plate in each arm; a plate piled high with all the items that made up a full English breakfast. They'd all had it many times on visits to Lady Penelope's mansion and it was exactly the kind of filling breakfast that everyone needed for the day ahead.

Without speaking Tin-Tin laid the two plates down in front of Scott and John, even as Grandma and Kyrano came in there own arms loaded with full plates. In no time at all everyone had a plate of steaming hot, delicious smelling food in front of them. In silence they all tucked into their large freshly cooked breakfasts with the speed and suddenness of starving people, not the well fed individuals that they all were.

* * *

A Short Time Later

Breakfast had been finished, the dishes cleared away and everyone made their way to the main living room. Jeff settled down in his usual place of power behind the desk and looked carefully at his four earthbound sons who had lined up facing him. Brains and Tin-Tin were also standing with them, waiting to be given their instructions on what needed to be done today.

"Okay, boys, as I am sure you are aware we have a considerable amount of work to do today," Jeff said. "One, we need to determine if any part of the villa has sustained damage from yesterdays storm; two we need to survey the whole island to make sure there are no new instabilities in the rock, and three we need to clean up outside."

"That is quite a lot of work to do, Dad," Gordon pointed out. "It might go faster if we split up to do different tasks."

"That's precisely what I was going to suggest, Gordon," Jeff answered with a smile. "Brains, I would like you and Virgil to get started on surveying the villa complex itself for any damage; Gordon I would like you and Tin-Tin to get started outside – I will give you a hand with that task. Scott, you and John begin surveying the perimeter of the island for signs of additional weathering, make sure to check the communications array for any damage as well."

Jeff paused and looked around at everyone who was assembled in front of him. "Any questions?" he asked. One by one everyone shook their heads, they were all perfectly clear on what their assignments entailed. "Then I would suggest we all get into working clothes and get to it."

"F-A-B, Dad," Scott said for all of them, right before they all made their way out of the room to get into appropriate work clothing. Jeff stood up himself and followed them; he would enjoy getting his hands dirty for a change. With his commitments to Tracy Industries it wasn't often that he really got chance to do something around the island. He had already decided that Tracy Industries could wait for today – as much as he hated to admit it, the company could run without him constantly watching over its shoulder. Today he would get down and dirty and help put his island home back together.

* * *

John's Room

A Few Minutes Later

John grunted as he finally managed to do up the front zip on his coveralls. They were the set he had had for awhile, so they were a little small for him now. Instead of hanging loosely over his body, they clung quite tightly to it. Looking in the mirror, John could clearly see the outline of his chest muscles pressing against the material. _One downside of suddenly having bigger muscles,_ he thought, _need to get a pack of new clothes._

"I'll have to make a shopping run to the mainland one of these days," he muttered to himself. Australia was the closest large landmass to Tracy Island, especially the north east coast of the country. He would have to make a rare expedition there to get some new clothes, especially if he decided to keep the nanites.

With a soft sigh, pushing any thoughts of the nanites out of his head for the time being, John headed to his bedroom door. Since it was unlocked the door automatically slid open on his approach and John stepped out in the hallway. Immediately he noticed that Scott was coming out of his own bedroom, like him dressed in coveralls.

"Ready to go, Scott," John asked his oldest brother.

"As ready as I can be, John," Scott replied joining the older of his two blond haired younger brothers. "So, any ideas where on the island we should start, John?"

John considered for a moment. "Well Dad said we had to check the communications array and that's quite hard to get to since it's on the other side of the airstrip from the villa," he said. "We could start at the jetty on the end of the airstrip and make our way around to the communications mast."

"Sound's like a plan," Scott replied with a smile. "Let's do it then. The sooner we get started on this, the sooner we finish."

John laughed. "Lead on then, Scott," he said, with a grin on his face. Scott grinned back and the two of them started walking, heading for the closest exit out of the main villa house. Both of them more than ready to tackle the task that their father had assigned to them.


	34. Chapter 34: After The Storm Part Two

**Chapter Thirty Four: After The Storm Part Two**

**Tracy Island**

**Sometime Later**

Scott paused for a moment to wipe some of the sweat from his forehead, it was starting to seep into his eyes and the small amount of salt in human sweat was making them sting. Both John and himself were making their way through the jungle towards the point where the communications mast stood. Normally to check the communications mast for damage or to fix any problems, they would just airlift someone there with Thunderbird Two, but with the main runway still clogged up with debris from yesterday's storm,

That left the longer, harder way of getting there through the jungle. While it wasn't that extensive it was always difficult to walk through. It was almost all hills, steep ravines and narrow canyons that had bored into the tough volcanic rock by the many small streams and rivers on the island. The path was long, and wound around a lot and not that well used, so it was starting to get overrun by the fast growing jungle plants. At the moment it was also like walking through a sauna, the rain that had thoroughly drenched everything was slowly evaporating in the tropical heat. Beneath the tree canopy, the air was stiflingly hot, and the humidity was through the roof.

"You okay, Scott," John asked from behind him.

"I'm okay, John," Scott replied, turning to look at the blond haired astronaut. Immediately he felt a touch of envy at the fact that John looked completely comfortable, the heat and humidity not bothering him at all. He wasn't even sweating lightly. _Damn, wish I had something like those nanites of his to keep me cool,_ Scott thought.

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah, its just like walking through this jungle is like walking through a sauna at the moment. How much further to the communications mast?"

"Only another few minutes at our current pace," John answered. "At least you'll get something of a break from the humidity when we get there, Scott."

"That will be something at least," Scott agreed, resuming walking. "Though I do hope the array is intact and hasn't taken any damage."

"We both hope that, Scott. And I'll tell you Alan will be as well," John replied. "It's awful when something happens to knock out communications with home. It's worse than…" his voice trailed off, he didn't really want to burden Scott with the knowledge of what he had been about to say.

But Scott was not about to be deterred. He had heard something in John's voice then that leapt out at him. Something that instantly had his full attention, he didn't like it when something disturbed his younger siblings.

"Worse than what, John?" he demanded to know. John did not reply, Scott frowned but pressed the issue. "Worse than what, John."

John sighed softly in resignation, while mentally berating himself for being so careless with his words. Now that he knew something bothered him, Scott would not stop, would not let up until he knew what that something was. _Why does he have to be so overprotective all the time,_ John thought in mild but familiar irritation. Scott's overprotective, big brother streak could be downright annoying sometimes, especially when he locked onto something like he had done now.

"Worse than when we're stuck on Thunderbird Five when the rest of you are out on a rescue," John admitted at last. "I know we do a vital job, Alan knows it as well but still hearing you guys and not being able to physically do anything but listen makes us feel…"

"Feel what," Scott asked, his mind reeling. Somehow he had never really thought about what things were like for John or Alan when they were on Thunderbird Five during a rescue before.

"Feel helpless, useless. We both accept that our job up there is necessary but it doesn't make it any easier. And before you say anything, Scott there is nothing you or anyone can do about it," John answered. "Not without making Thunderbird Five totally unmanned which, as you know is a completely unworkable scenario."

"The technology exists to do it but I know what you mean," Scott replied, with a sigh. "Still, there has to be something that can be done to make it easier on the two of you."

"Not at the moment. Not until Brains can fix the problems with that holographic communicator of his; the potential uses for it are myriad and it would help both myself and Alan feel more involved when we're up on the space station."

"He's probably going to give it priority attention once the repairs to Thunderbird One are complete. I know for a fact that he wants to include it in the new Mobile Control unit he's making to replace the one destroyed at Mount Baker."

John winced at the memory. "Yeah sorry about loosing Mobile Control, Scott."

"Ah, don't worry about it. Brains had been on about replacing it for months anyway, plus from what you told me that lava flow was going incredibly fast, there was no way for you to save it."

"True, Scott. Very true, would have been suicide to even try."

"Yes. Though while we're on the subject of the holographic communicators, why don't you give Brains a hand with them, John?"

"Believe it or not I have been. The challenge appealed to me," John replied grinning. Any potential new communications technology would get his attention and the challenge of making the holographic communicators work had stressed his minor genius IQ, something John didn't mind at all. Scott grinned back and was about to reply when they came out of the forest and there in front of them was the base of the rocky outcrop on which stood the communications mast.

It was immediately obvious that something was wrong with the array, it was pitching noticeably to the right; two of the four high tension cables that helped to hold it upright were gone. One of the satellite dishes from the top was also missing and even from a distance they could both see signs of scorching on the mast as well, it had obviously been hit by lightning, possibly more than once.

Scott's shoulders slumped seeing the state the mast and the array on top were in. "Oh boy," he said, with a sigh. "We could have a serious problem here."

"I think we already have one, Scott," John answered grimly. He could hear that the mast was making soft moaning sounds of stressed metal. "From what I can hear the mast is unstable, the breeze coming off the ocean is increasing the strain on it."

Scott swore softly at John's comment. He knew what that meant. The remaining securing cables could come away at anytime, then there would only be the bolts at the bottom holding the mast upright. If they were already damaged, then Scott knew they wouldn't hold for long. The mast would fall, possibly right off the rocky outcrop and down the cliff into the ocean.

"You can say that again, Scott," John said grinning. He had easily heard his older brother swear. "Looking at this I would be very surprised if long range communications are still working," he added looking at the array. "If they're not working then you can bet, Alan's bouncing off the walls up in Thunderbird Five. I know I go batty whenever communication is lost for one reason or another."

"We'll have to check it, can't be without communications," Scott answered frowning, worried for both everyone on the island and International Rescue. Without the mast they were deaf and blind to the outside world, though Brains and John would probably be able to rig up a temporary system. Still, Scott didn't like the idea of being cut off from the world beyond the secluded shores of Tracy Island for even a short period of time. Especially as they would be cut off from Thunderbird Five until they could sort something out.

"I know, Scott," John replied. "Though we can't climb the mast when it's in this condition, it would be far too dangerous to even attempt it."

"I'm aware of that. We can still check the connections at the base of the array though, see if there is any power going into it. We could also try sending a test signal if there is power."

"We could try that, yes."

"Then what are we waiting for? Let's get started," Scott said, taking a small diagnostic unit from one of the pockets in his coveralls and heading towards the base of the mast.

John sighed to himself, then took a diagnostic unit from his own pocket and followed Scott. He was not at all confident that they were going to get good readings – if they got any back at all – from the power and data terminals at the base of the mast. But he knew that Scott was right, they had to try and get something before they headed back to the villa and told Dad about the damage to the array.

Arriving at the base of the mast, John walked around to one of the terminal covers and took a screwdriver from his utility belt. With another sigh of resignation he began to carefully undo the first of the four tough, stiff screws holding the cover in place.

The first screw came undone surprisingly easily and he was just getting started on the second screw when a loud creaking, moaning sound came from the mast. Looking up in concern, John frowned as for a moment he saw the mast move, on the other side he saw Scott also look up, his attention drawn by the sound.

"What was that?" Scott asked frowning. "Sounds like the mast moved slightly."

"It did," John replied. "Scott, I don't think it's safe to check these panels, this thing's going to fall."

"I know, but we have to try," Scott answered. "As long as the guide cables hold we'll be okay."

"Alright if you're sure," John said not convinced, he was beginning to think checking the array like this was an unnecessary risk, but he trusted that Scott knew what he was doing. Quickly he got back to work undoing the screws on the panel.

He was just taking off the panel when the array emitted another creaking moan, accompanied by the sharp snap of a breaking cable. The cable clanged instantly against the side of the array. _Oh hell,_ John thought leaping to his feet in time to see the array start to fall.

"Scott, move," he called out leaping clear and rolling. Scott looked up and his blue eyes widened in horror as he realised that the mast was about to fall. If it landed on top of him he would be either killed instantly or seriously, seriously injured. Leaping to his feet, he started to run clear, only to trip on a broken piece of metal and was sent sprawling.

Turning over, Scott started to get back up when a sound made him freeze in place, the sound of the remaining guide cable snapping. What happened next seemed to do so in slow motion; with nothing holding it up the mast began to fall to the right. Scott desperately tried to haul himself clear along the floor as the mast slowly descended. He almost made it, the edge of the mast crashed down on the lower portion of his right leg, triggering a sharp crack of breaking bone. Blinding, searing pain exploded along the length of his right leg. Time speeded up again as he cried out in agony.

"Scott, hang on," John said racing up. He had heard Scott's leg break and a quick glanced showed that Scott's right leg was pinned from just below his knee. The mast that was now lying on its side, though it could slide into the Pacific Ocean at any moment. With Scott's leg pinned underneath it, it would most likely take Scott with it, dragging him down to his death. John shuddered slightly at that thought, then shook it off as his training took over. At least as much as it could where one of his beloved brothers was concerned.

"Hang on, I'll get you out of there," he said looking at the fallen mast and knowing that with his strength he would be able to lift it off his brother. "If I lift this up can you pull yourself clear?"

"I think so," Scott replied sweating, his voice thick with pain. "But first thing, John, call Dad let him know. I won't be able to walk down from here." John nodded, Scott would need a stretcher to get back to the villa. Reluctantly he raised his wristcom and pressed the transmit button.

"Dad," he said and almost instantly the watch face vanished to be replaced by the face of Jeff.

"Yes, John?" Jeff asked. One look at this sons face immediately told him that something was seriously wrong. "What is it, John? What's happened?"

"Dad, Scott and I are up at the communications mast," John replied. "There has been an accident. The mast fell while we were doing the checks. It landed on Scott and broke his leg. He can't walk, I need help."

"I see," Jeff replied, concern readily apparent in his normally calm voice. "Get Scott out from under there as quickly as you can. I'll get Gordon and Brains to come up there with a stretcher and emergency medical kit."

"F-A-B, Dad," John replied, before breaking the connection with his father and turning to look at Scott. "You heard?"

"Yes," Scott replied, the response more of a gasp as tears of pain made their way from the sides of his eyes. "Let's get this done then, John."

John nodded and moved up close so he was beside Scott, his feet parallel to Scott's uninjured left leg. Squatting down he slipped his hands under the edge of the mast and got a grip on the metal. Closing his eyes he mentally once again envisioned a dial labelled strength and turned it up from normal to full. Immediately he felt power surge through him, felt his altered, enlarged muscles virtually throb as the full superhuman power of the nanites inside of him made their presence known.

Opening his eyes again, John stood up and as he did so lifted the heavy metal mast as if it weighed nothing at all.

"Go," he said to Scott, feeling his muscles straining slightly. The mast with the box on the other end weighed a good hundred tons or more and even with his strength he noticed it; he would not be able to hold it up for very long. Though the nanites had transformed him into what was basically a superman; John knew full well that his strength was far from infinite. There would be some weights that would be too great even for him.

Scott nodded and summoning up every ounce of determination that he had, he slowly began to haul himself across the rough rock floor. Every movement sent a fierce blast of pain from his leg through his nervous system, but gritting his teeth, Scott persevered and pulled himself clear.

"Clear," he called out weakly, even as darkness encroached on the sides of his vision. Faintly, as if hearing from a distance, he heard the sound of metal hitting stone as John dropped the mast, then a scraping sound that meant the mast had fallen off the cliff to the sea below.

John appeared over him, but Scott couldn't really make him out his features through the haze of pain obscuring his vision. He was sure he could hear words but they seemed to come from so far away that he couldn't make them out. He was vaguely aware of someone holding his hand.

Then, the blackness that had been hovering at the edges of his vision enveloped him, and he knew no more.


End file.
